Cunning, Courage, and Cleverness
by Rtnwriter
Summary: In fourth year, when told that he has no choice but to have a date to the Yule Ball, there's only one girl that Harry can think of to ask to accompany him. When Hermione reveals that she has a secret to tell him, what she reveals will change his life forever.
1. Hermione's Secret

**Author's notes: So, some of you may recognize this as a rewritten and much expanded verision of the one shot that I posted called Slytherin Included. The idea of expanding that into a multi-chapter story just would not let go of me once it had taken hold so this is the end result of that situation. **

**The one problem with this story is that really... well, I don't HAVEa particular plan in place with this one like I do with my other stories. I at least have an idea of where things are going with those but this one? Not so much. As such updates will be slow and sporadic on this as I'll be working out what is supposed to be happening as I go along. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter franchise.**

**So without any further ado, here is the first chapter of Cunning, Courage, and Cleverness. Enjoy!**

Cunning, Courage, and Cleverness

Hermione's Secret

by,

Rtnwriter

Harry Potter sat at one of the student desks in an unused classroom, watching with a bemused air as his best friend, the girl of his dreams, paced anxiously back and forth in front of the dusty teacher's desk. Her hands twisted and twined together even as she chewed incessantly on her bottom lip, a nervous habit he'd always found very cute.

"Herm-"

"Not now, Harry," she cut him off, spinning sharply to face him. "I'm sorry, just… please can you be patient a moment?"

Honestly, patience was not one of his strong suits, but for Hermione, he would master the skill if necessary.

He leaned back in the seat he'd appropriated and carefully observed his best friend as she paced and muttered to herself, nervous anxiety practically rolling off of her.

Harry had known Hermione for over three years by that point, and he felt he knew her better than he knew anyone in the world. Her behavior was particularly out of the norm for her, by his estimation, and it was throwing him off balance to a disturbing degree.

_So… how did asking Hermione to be my date to the Yule Ball turn into… whatever this is?_ he wondered idly as she resumed her pacing.

Just minutes before, right after their Transfiguration class where the Ball had been announced, he'd been told by Professor McGonagall that he needed a date to the Ball as one of the Champions, however reluctantly. After processing the initial shock and panic over the idea that he would be required to dance, a skill he had no experience with, in front of a rather large audience, he'd started to think about who he could possibly ask to attend the Ball with him. Almost immediately a single name and face had floated into his mind and he'd taken the chance to approach the most important person in his life.

Hermione had stared at him blankly for several long moments before she'd suddenly grabbed his arm and dragged him into this room, muttering only, "I need to tell you something," in a quiet undertone.

She hadn't said much since then and he was actually beginning to worry.

Just as he was ready to insist that she tell him what was going on, the door to the classroom swung open and a figure breezed into the room, wand already in hand and casting locking and privacy charms at the door after she closed it behind her.

"Merlin's bloody beard," the girl snapped irritably, her back still to the room. "Malfoy is just getting more insufferable every day! I swear if I have to hear him go on about Potter one more time I'll-"

"Daphne?" Hermione called, a warning tone in her voice and the girl, Daphne Greengrass, Harry realized, turned around, her cold blue eyes widening for a moment when they landed on him.

For a few seconds she seemed puzzled but then her expression cleared, back to the placid calm mask that she typically wore and she turned toward his best friend, one slender brow arched questioningly.

"What's all this?" she asked, moving over to lean against the teacher's desk, putting Hermione between her and Harry. He wasn't sure if that was intentional, but considering the girl was a Slytherin he figured there wasn't much that she did that wasn't deliberate and planned.

Hermione resumed pacing again.

"Harry…" she said nervously, "first I really want to thank you for inviting me to the Ball. I can't begin to tell you how much that means to me, and I would love to go with you… there's, well there's just a slight complication that you need to be aware of. I'm really not sure, I mean… I don't know how to…"

Daphne rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sounding sigh as Hermione rambled on and she stepped away from the desk, planting herself in Hermione's path. When next the bushy haired witch turned, a pair of small hands cupped her cheeks and Harry's eyes widened dramatically as Daphne Greengrass, Ice Queen of Slytherin, pulled _his_ best friend into an emotional, heated kiss.

Hermione froze for a split second. He could see the tension in her frame when the other girl's lips came into contact with her own and for a moment he expected her to push the blond way from her. His brows rose toward his hairline in surprise a second later when a soft moan escaped Hermione's mouth and her arms came around the other witch, as if by instinct, clutching the girl close to her for the few seconds that their kiss lasted as her body seemed to melt against the Slytherin in her arms.

"Why'd you go and do that?" Hermione asked breathlessly when Daphne finally pulled away from her, her eyes hooded and cheeks flushed. Whether they were flushed from arousal or embarrassment, Harry couldn't tell.

Daphne gave her a soft smile, one hand coming up to gently cup the other girl's cheek. "Because you weren't going to get to the point any time soon and we need to move on," she explained in a gentle tone.

Daphne leaned up and kissed the tip of Hermione's nose before she turned in the girl's arms, pressing her back to his best friend's front even as she pulled Hermione's arms tighter around her middle and fixed him with a calm stare.

"Potter," she said, her tone cool and collected, a far cry from the emotion he'd heard in her voice when she'd been speaking to the witch at her back. "Hermione and I have been dating since the middle of last year. That's what she's been trying to tell you." She glanced back over her shoulder at Hermione. "I imagine his invite to the Ball is why you've suddenly decided to tell him about us?" she asked.

Hermione nodded. "I couldn't answer him without him knowing what's been going on, you know that."

Harry frowned, a stabbing sensation running through his chest as the two girls talked and slowly rose to his feet, gathering their attention as he moved.

"How did this happen?" he asked, trying very hard to keep the pain he was feeling from his voice. "Why didn't you tell me before?" He made no effort to hide how _that_ hurt him. He thought they were friends. He thought that Hermione trusted him enough to talk to him about things like this. Had she worried he would judge her? Did she not know him at all if that's what her concern had been?

"Daphne and I are both in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy," Hermione began to explain. "Both of those classes are on the smaller side and with a mixed number of students from all four houses so the professors insist on partnering people from different Houses whenever possible. Daphne and I ended up partnered together in both classes."

"It wasn't easy at first," Daphne said, taking up the explanation. "My family doesn't have the kind of prejudice and bias that idiots like Malfoy spout, but I was still taught that the muggle world was dangerous and that muggleborns in general tend to make judgements without understanding the situation. Magical society has rules, traditions, ways of doing things that don't make sense to a lot of muggleborn witches and wizards, but they come into this world and try to make these things fit what they know.

"When that doesn't work they usually decide that the wizarding world is backwards or wrong and they go about trying to convince us of their opinions." She looked back at Hermione again who was flushing and looking up toward the ceiling in order to avoid either of their gazes. "Hermione was no better, at first. We butted heads quite a bit in those first few weeks."

"Eventually I got Daphne to start actually explaining things to me and everything started to make more sense. I still don't agree with a lot of what I've learned about wizarding society, but I understand it better. The time we spent talking about things not class related… well we became friends."

"That doesn't explain how you started dating. Why wouldn't you tell me?"

"We got together because of you. You and Ron, actually," Hermione told him and he blinked several times in surprise, his head tilting to one side as he stared at her.

"Huh?" he asked.

"It was during those few weeks last year when you weren't talking to me over the Firebolt," she explained and Harry winced, his shoulders hunching inward slightly as a feeling of guilt and shame settled over him.

"I'm really sorry about that," he muttered. "I shouldn't have let Ron pull that and I should have listened to you."

"Well, I shouldn't have gone behind your back. At the very least I should have told you that I was going to talk to Professor McGonagall about it."

"I said as much when she first came to me after the row you three had," Daphne cut in. "We meet here in this classroom as often as we can. Not as often as we'd like since one of the reasons we've kept our friendship, much less our relationship, a secret is that whole Gryffindor and Slytherin rivalry… well I'm pretty sure both of us would be crucified by half the student population if the school knew about us."

Harry opened his mouth to protest but closed it again without saying anything, unable to really refute her argument. "So that would be why you never said anything to me?" he asked, looking to Hermione. "I would have thought that out of everyone you'd be able to talk to me about something like this." The pain in his chest that had receded slightly during their discussion came roaring back and he couldn't keep it from his voice or his face.

Hermione shook her head. "At first I didn't say anything because, well, because you weren't talking to me. Then after you guys came back to me, I was just so happy to have my friends back that I didn't want to risk another fight."

At Harry's questioning look Daphne let out a very unladylike snort. "What would the Weasel have said if Hermione let it be known she was dating another girl? Worse, she was dating a Slytherin?"

He frowned at the slight against his friend, but found he couldn't refute that argument either.

"We had so much going on last year, it was just easier not to bring it up. Besides, after a little while I rather started to enjoy having something that was just mine, you know?" Hermione asked. "Daphne is very special to me and I liked keeping her to myself."

"I knew I was just your dirty little secret, Granger," Daphne sighed in a despondent tone though her lips twitched slightly as if she were suppressing a smile.

"That's not true and you know it," Hermione insisted.

"Kind of sounds like it to me 'Mione," Harry cut in with a laugh and a grin toward the blond Slytherin.

Hermione frowned. "Hey, ganging up on me is not allowed!"

"But I thought you wanted Potter and me to get along," Daphne told her, visibly smiling now.

"Not at my expense!"

Daphne and Harry shared a grin and Harry reluctantly had to admit that he was starting to like the girl. _Dammit, and I was all prepared to hate her._

"_Anyway_," Hermione said, stressing the word carefully, "I wanted to tell you, Harry, more than anyone. But by the time things were less crazy it had been so long that it just kind of seemed like I'd missed the chance to talk to you about it and… I don't know, it just always felt like the wrong time to try to say something."

Daphne rolled her eyes again.

"Right," she muttered, "now tell him the real reason."

"That is the reason!"

"Okay, tell him the _whole_ reason, then."

While the girls were talking, Harry had fully processed the fact that he'd apparently missed his chance, and by nearly a year at that. Hermione was with someone else, and as much as he'd have liked to explore the feelings he had for his best friend, her happiness was far more important to him, and if the Slytherin girl made her happy… well, there was nothing for it.

That didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"I'm happy for you, Hermione, really," he said, attempting to keep the pain he was feeling out of his tone. "But honestly, just turning me down would have been better than this… this show you two decided to put on." He shoved his hands in his pockets, his eyes directed at the stones in front of his beat up trainers. "I'm glad you found someone that makes you happy. I'll just…" He trailed off, not entirely certain what else he could say before he shrugged, offered her a small smile, and started toward the door. "I'll catch up with you later," he told her. "I've got to figure out what to do about this-''

"Potter! Sit!"

At Daphne's sharp command Harry actually jumped, startled by her outburst, and sat at the nearest desk without even thinking about it.

"You didn't need to be so abrupt, Daphne," Hermione admonished the girl that was still standing within the circle of her arms, a disapproving frown on her face.

"Would you rather I'd just let him walk out before you got a chance to explain things to him?"

Hermione let out a huff but didn't respond, instead turning her attention to him. "Harry, _why_ did you ask me to the Ball?" Hermione asked, her eyes fixed intently on him.

He frowned, thinking he'd been pretty clear when he asked her in the hallway and opened his mouth to respond. "I… huh?"

_Very witty, Potter_, he thought.

"Why?" she insisted. "Did you ask just to go with someone you know as a friend? Or because you figured I would be an easy person to ask? Or that I'd be grateful to even get an invite?"

"No, absolutely not!" he burst out, climbing instantly to his feet again.

"Sit!"

He sat, blinking slightly in surprise before he shook his head and turned his attention back to his best friend. He chose to ignore the satisfied smirk tugging at the blond's lips.

"I would never treat you like that or think that of you, Hermione," he insisted. "You're beautiful, and brilliant, and generally amazing. Anyone would be lucky to have you as their date."

"But why did _you_ ask me? What reason made you decide to ask me over any other girl in this castle?"

He shifted about nervously for a moment before he sighed and set his hands on the desk in front of him. _Might as well tell her._ "Because I've wanted to ask you out for a long time now and I just couldn't find the nerve to say it," he admitted, staring at the scarred and pitted surface of the desk under his hands. "When Professor McGonagall said I absolutely _had_ to have a date… I decided I could use the opportunity to try to gauge if you felt anything more for me than just friendship."

He may not have used the word 'girlfriend', but he was certainly thinking it. No reason to bring _that_ up, though.

"I told you, Granger," he heard Daphne say in a very satisfied tone of voice.

"Yes, yes, you'll get your forfeit later," Hermione teased and Harry could hear just how pleased she was, causing him to cautiously look up to the two girls.

Hermione had released Daphne and was standing next to the other girl, both of them leaning back against the Teacher's desk and watching him carefully. Hermione had a broad grin on her face while Daphne seemed to be studying him, her own lips turned up just slightly at the corners, but he couldn't really call what she was doing smiling.

"Harry," Hermione started, her eyes dancing happily. "I've had feelings for you since second year. It started in first year to be honest. You _did_ save me from a troll, a girl can't really help but develop a crush on someone that does something like that. But when I was petrified… Madam Pomfrey told me how often you came to visit me, even sneaking into the Hospital Wing after she kicked you out. I might not remember any of it, but when she told me about it, that really meant a lot to me."

Surprised didn't really begin to cover how Harry felt about that admission from his best friend and he simply gaped in shock at her until Daphne speaking up forced him to redirect his focus toward the other girl.

"From what I've heard of you from Hermione… I'll be honest, I wouldn't be against getting to know you a _lot_ better, Potter." Daphne's expression was curious, thoughtful, something he'd rarely seen from the usually emotionless seeming girl.

"Wait, I'm confused."

"I've had a bit of a crush on you since first year," she admitted. "I never did or said anything about it because of that whole rivalry our Houses have going, as previously mentioned." She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath as if gearing herself up for what she was going to say next. "I grew up, like almost every other girl in the wizarding world, hearing about Harry Potter. I can't say I wasn't curious to meet you when we first started here. But I'm a Slytherin. I wasn't going to up and introduce myself to someone I didn't even know like a Gryffindor might. So I observed and from what I saw… well, you're interesting, Potter.

"It became clear pretty quickly that you were nothing like the stories or what most people think you should be like. You're not a braggart like Malfoy, you're not stuck up like Zabini, and you're not a jerk like the Weasel. In first year you were cute, and you've only gotten better looking over the last few years. Hermione's also made sure to keep me informed on the kind of person you _are_ instead of just letting me be stuck with just what I could see."

"… what?" Harry's head was spinning. The two girls seemed to be saying something without actually coming out and saying the words, and whatever it was was lost on him.

"You wanted to see if I felt anything more than just friendship for you," Hermione pointed out, drawing his attention back to her. "Were you hoping to end the Yule Ball with a girlfriend?"

Fidgeting slightly he shrugged. "I didn't really have a solid plan in mind," he admitted, much to both girls amusement. "But… I wouldn't be against that at all." A moment later he shook his head. "Doesn't matter anymore, you're already with Daphne," he muttered.

"And _that's_ why she didn't tell you sooner," Daphne pointed out.

Harry sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Could you two be any more confusing?" he muttered. "Look, I don't know why I'm still here. Obviously the two of you have something going and I'm not gonna try and get in the middle of that."

"Would you please let me finish explaining?" Hermione asked.

_Dammit, why'd _she_ have to ask me that?_ If there was one person that Harry Potter would do almost anything for, it was Hermione Granger. Breathing out a sad sigh he slumped back in his seat and gestured for her to continue with one hand.

"We never did explain how we got together, did we?"

"That part got skipped over a touch," Daphne admitted in a dry tone.

"Okay… well, like I said, when you boys and I fought over the broom last year, I came here to cry a bit and feel sorry for myself. Daphne found me and got the story out of me."

"And as I already said, I told her that going behind your back was a bad idea."

"Yes, I messed up, I'm not perfect you know?"

"We know, love, continue."

Hermione glared half-heartedly at the girl beside her for a moment before she looked back at Harry. "Anyway, I was miserable. Partly because my friends were mad at me, but mostly because _you_ were mad at me, and that hurt more because of how I felt about you. After letting me vent and cry a bit, Daphne surprised me when she kissed me, right out of the blue."

"Well, you were so upset I couldn't just let you stew. I had to shock you out of it _somehow_."

"And the fact that you'd developed feelings for me had nothing to do with it?"

Daphne made a wordless sound in the back of her throat that seemed to be neither a denial or admission at that.

"I didn't really know what to think when she did that," Hermione continued. "I'd never really considered kissing another girl before, and I was pretty stuck on you, Harry. When she finished I tried to explain that I had feelings for someone else, but she told me that she'd already figured it out and she thought that there just might be a possible arrangement we could agree to."

Harry was completely baffled by that point and simply blinked a few times. "An arrangement?"

Hermione nodded and took a deep breath. "Harry, I would absolutely love to go to the Yule Ball with you, _and_ I would really love to be your girlfriend, if you still want me. I need you to understand though, I love Daphne as much as I love you. She's incredibly important to me and if you want me, then that's going to include her."

"So… you want us to share you?" Harry asked, his tone clearly betraying the shock he felt.

Hermione smiled and shook her head, her bushy curls bouncing back and forth. "Not exactly. I want to share Daphne with you. I want Daphne to share you with me, and me with you. I… we," she added, indicating Daphne beside her, "want all _three _of us to be together."

Harry blinked several times again, looking back and forth between the two beautiful girls standing in front of him.

"What?"

"Hermione, I thought you said he was more clever than he appeared."

"He is! He's just in a bit of shock right now. Wouldn't you be surprised in his position?"

"Hmmm… maybe." Daphne pushed off the desk and took a couple of steps closer to where Harry was sitting, Hermione following right beside her. "Look, Potter. The reason that she never told you that she was dating me was because she didn't want you to think of her as 'off limits'. I could tell how she felt about you, and I had a feeling that you felt something similar, at least, for her. But we both figured that if you knew she was in a relationship then you'd never act on those feelings.

"I can't say I'm in love with you like she can, but I do think I'd like to get to know you better. Hermione loves you, and for that reason alone I'd be willing to let her have you, just as long as you help make her happy. As far as you and I go…"

When she trailed off Harry spent several seconds simply staring at the two of them, sure that he had to be dreaming. There was no way in hell this kind of situation would happen to him. His luck was notoriously bad unless it was getting him out of some life threatening situation. Of course, that same luck usually got him _into_ the life threatening situation in the first place.

"Daphne and I don't even know each other," he pointed out to Hermione, who reluctantly nodded. "I don't know anything about her, really, but honestly… if you care so much for her I can't imagine that she's anything short of amazing." He turned his attention to Daphne for a moment, glancing her up and down quickly before returning his focus to her cool blue gaze.

There was nervousness behind her cold irises. She was anxious and uncertain. This obviously meant _something_ to her, though what, and how much, he couldn't really say.

"Are you honestly telling me that you want all three of us in a relationship together? Equally?"

"Absolutely, Harry."

"She wants it. I'm not against it. I'm at least willing to give it a try."

Harry stood and moved out into the room a few steps closer to the girls, his eyes shifting back and forth from one to the other as his thoughts spun rapidly about his mind.. "Well… I think that Daphne and I should spend some time together, getting to know one another, but other than that, I can't see any reason to say, 'no'. I'm not really sure how you expect this idea to work, but I'd have to be an idiot to turn down two beautiful girls offering to be with me."

He suddenly staggered back, his arms filled with an ecstatically squealing Hermione Granger. Squealing which cut off when she sealed her mouth to his and Harry's world narrowed down to encompass nothing but the girl in his arms, the sensation of her lips pressed against his own, and everything that he felt for her.

By the time Hermione pulled back from the surprising, and wonderful, kiss, Harry could only be completely sure of one thing. The reality of kissing Hermione Granger was several magnitudes greater than any fantasy he'd ever had of kissing Hermione Granger. His heart was pounding in his chest as a sensation of warmth seemed to spread throughout his body, starting at the point where her lips had been pressed against his own.

With very little to compare it to, since that was his first kiss, Harry had the distinct impression that his girlfriend was a _damned_ good kisser.

His thoughts seemed to stutter at that after a moment. _Girlfriend. Hermione is actually my girlfriend,_ he thought, elated and shocked at the abrupt shift in his life. He blinked several times when he opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Daphne Greengrass, standing behind Hermione with her hands clasped behind her back and a small, fond smile turning up her lips.

Elation quickly faded into panic, and Harry took a rather deliberate step back from his best friend, though he kept his hands on her waist. _When the hell did my hands end up there, anyway?_

"Erm… I'm sorry about that," he muttered, to which both girls gave him a confused look.

"Whatever for?" Daphne finally asked after the two shared a bemused glance.

Harry opened his mouth to answer but no words readily sprang to mind and after a moment his mouth snapped shut again, a frown furrowed his brow as a feeling of consternation filled him.

"My immediate thought was to apologize for kissing your girlfriend," he muttered, almost more to himself than actually to the two girls present with him. "But… well, she's _my_ girlfriend now too, isn't she?"

Both girls nodded, Hermione a bit more fervently than Daphne.

"If the two of you are going to be in a relationship then I'd imagine you're both rather entitled to a kiss now and again, or more," Daphne stated calmly.

"But you don't want this," he pointed out. "I can't imagine you're happy seeing your girlfriend kissing someone else."

As Hermione turned wide eyes to the girl behind her, Daphne frowned. "I never said that I didn't want this."

"You never said you did," Harry countered. "Hermione said you both wanted to give this idea a try. You specifically said that Hermione wants this and that you're 'not against it'. Not against isn't the same as being in favor of it."

Daphne blinked once, staring at him in silence for a moment before she turned her head to focus on Hermione.

"Okay," she said. "You were right. He really _is_ far more clever than he seems."

"He is. But," Hermione added, turning to face him again, "he also tends to read more into things at times."

Harry frowned at that. "What am I reading into? Daphne, by her own words, doesn't really _want _this idea you've come up with."

"This arrangement was actually my idea."

His attention swiveled back toward the blond, eyebrows shooting up his forehead in shock.

Daphne let out a small sigh and gestured to the student desks behind them. "Why don't we all sit and I'll try to explain?"

At Hermione's urging, Harry found himself slowly dropping into the seat he'd so recently vacated, his thoughts spinning rapidly through his mind. He'd made a snap decision when he agreed to the situation that'd been presented to him. A decision inspired entirely by the thought of having a chance with the girl he'd fancied for years, and if he was being honest with himself, probably inspired by a great deal of hormones. What bloke _didn't_ occasionally entertain the thought of having two girls wanting to be with him?

Once he'd really started to think about it, however, he started to see the potential flaws and cracks in the idea, and he wasn't sure how to address them, but he knew that Daphne was at the epicenter of most of the potential pitfalls that he could see.

"I've already pointed out that I have a bit of a crush on you, Potter," Daphne started once the three were sitting in a small circle, the edges of the desks attached to each chair touching between them. "I find you to be good looking, and Hermione has told me enough about you that I think I could really like the person that you are." When Harry frowned, Hermione took that moment to speak up.

"I didn't tell her anything personal," she said, reaching out to place one hand on his forearm. "I didn't give her details of your life, what I _know_ of it, or what I've guessed. I haven't told her the details of our adventures, not really."

"Yes, and I will admit that I am quite curious about what happened last year. Professor Snape was ranting quite loudly about you and Sirius Black, Potter, but I understand that you have no reason to trust me and I won't ever try to press you for information. If you feel like filling me in on what you three have gotten up to, I will be happy to listen, but I'm not demanding answers in any way."

Harry said nothing but gave a curt nod and gestured for her to continue with her explanation.

"When Hermione and I started dating, it was at my insistence that she not tell you. Like I said, from what I understood about you, you struck me as the noble, self-sacrificing type. If you knew she was in a relationship with someone else, you aren't the type to try and steal her away. You'd step aside and keep your feelings for her secret, am I right?"

Slowly, Harry nodded again. "Yeah, you're probably right there," he admitted.

"I knew that I wanted to be with Hermione. I'd come to care a great deal for her in the time we'd spent together. I also knew how strongly she felt for you, and that being with you would be something she wanted." She paused for a moment, her fingers tapping idly on the surface of her desk as she thought. "When I was younger, my mother once told me that loving someone meant that their happiness was more important to you than your own.

"I may not _want_ this three way relationship, in the sense that I'd likely not have chosen it for myself without any outside push, but I want to make her happy, and having you with her is a step in that direction."

"But if _you_ don't want it then won't you come to resent her, or me?" he questioned.

"Do you resent Professor McGonagall for putting you on the Quidditch team?"

Harry blinked in surprise at that, his head tilting to one side in confusion. "What? I don't understand your point."

"I've heard the story of how you ended up on the team. I was there in that class and saw what Malfoy pulled. The rumours later circulated that McGonagall put you on the team because of the catch you made; It was a choice of join or she'd revisit the idea of giving you detention for breaking the rules, correct?"

"Yeah. So?"

"But you don't particularly love Quidditch."

"Of course I do."

"No, you don't, Harry," Hermione interrupted. "Ron loves Quidditch. He loves the tactics and the plays and the statistics and all of it. You just love to fly. Quidditch isn't what you love, you love the chance to be in the air, and… well, maybe you like getting some attention for yourself that you feel you've actually earned. When you catch the snitch, people talk about you for something that _you_ actually did. Not for something your mother did, or for something that you can't even remember."

Once she'd finished Harry was leaning back in his seat, his arms crossed over his chest and frowning deeply at the desk in front of him. "I never really thought about it," he muttered. "Maybe? I _do_ love to fly. And yeah, the game does give me a ready excuse to go flying. What does that have to do with this, though?" he finally asked motioning between the three of them with one hand.

"It's different, obviously, but there's a certain parallel to be made. You don't love Quidditch, but you tolerate it in order to give you a chance to do something that you _do_ love, flying. I may not love you, and if it wasn't for Hermione I might never have truly approached the idea of beginning a relationship with you, but by doing so I get something I want, and that's to make Hermione happy. Her happiness is more important to me than my own.

"If you and I can be friends, at the very least, then I will be happy as long as you and Hermione are happy with each other. If you and I develop into something more, then all the better. Like I said, I'm not going to claim to be in love with you, and you know almost nothing about me so you can't really have any feelings for me yet. I see this as an opportunity for us to get to know each other better and see where things might end up."

"But that's not what we discussed, Daphne," Hermione protested. "I know the two of you could fall in love with each other. I want us to be together, all three of us and if you two aren't going to actually try then that's not going to work."

Her tone was distressed, Harry noted, as Daphne reached for his friend's hand, clasping it tightly. Harry bit his tongue against the instinctive reaction he had to reassure her. He'd never knowingly lied to Hermione and he wasn't going to start now with platitudes that he didn't know for sure could be true. So, he swallowed the words that immediately wanted to spill from his mouth and instead took a few moments to think very carefully over the situation.

If he was being completely honest, he could picture himself dating Daphne Greengrass. She _was_ absolutely gorgeous with her brilliantly blue eyes, long, sunny-blond hair, and slim body with just the right curves… and from what he'd seen just that afternoon, personality wise, he thought he could really get to like her. She had a sardonic and quick wit that he enjoyed, and she genuinely seemed to care for Hermione, something that was exceedingly important to him.

He couldn't say that he would fall in love with her, but getting to know her better, as she'd suggested, that he could easily see happening; and he didn't feel it would really be much of a hardship.

"Potter?"

He blinked, surprised to find that both girls were watching him closely and he realized that he'd lost himself in his thoughts.

"Sorry, what was that?" he asked, his gaze moving to meet Daphne's.

"Just wondering what was going on in that head of yours," she commented.

"A couple of things actually." He leaned forward, crossing his arms in front of him on the desk and leaning on his elbows. "Are you absolutely certain you're willing to do this? Are you willing to see if you and I might find something equal enough to what we both feel for Hermione?"

Daphne arched one slender brow again, looking as surprised as he thought he'd ever seen her.

"I'm willing. I'm honestly a little surprised that you are."

Harry shrugged. "I'm a teenage male with two attractive girls willing to explore the possibility of a relationship with me. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that hormones might've had something to do with my earlier agreement to this whole idea, but having thought about it, I still can't see a reason _not _to give it a shot.

"You said it yourself, Daphne. Hermione's happiness is more important to me than my own. If you and I can give her something she wants then I'm willing to give it a chance. But Hermione is also right in that if you and I are just being friends then we're not living up to the concept of an equal relationship between all three of us."

"True. You seem like you have a solution to that problem, Potter." It was a statement, not a question, but Harry nodded anyway.

"I think I just might. First, you should probably call me, Harry." He grinned at her as she blinked. "If we're going to see about getting closer to each other then we really should be on a first name basis, don't you think?"

Several seconds passed before Daphne's lips quirked up into a small grin and she gave a regal nod of her head. "Fair enough, Harry."

"Second… well, second might be a little harder to swallow, and I think it _will_ present a host of other potential problems that we'd have to deal with together, but…"

He trailed off and stood, moving around the desks until he was standing next to Daphne, who had turned to follow his movement.

"Daphne Greengrass, tomorrow is a Hogsmeade weekend and I would very much like it if you would be willing to accompany me, as my date?"


	2. Daphne's Decision

**Author's notes: So, I have t been working on this story regularly. A little bit here and there as ideas occur to me. Still working on developing the overall storyline to come with this one but my other works have been my focus when I find the time and wherewithal to write. **

**That being said I hope everyone likes this new addition, and I look forward to hearing what people think of it. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing if interest or value to anyone. **

**Here is Chapter Two of Cunning, Courage, and Cleverness. Enjoy!**

Cunning, Courage, and Cleverness

Daphne's Decision

By,

Rtnwriter

Daphne's gaze flicked back and forth between the two people in the old, unused classroom with her. Her girlfriend of nearly a year, Hermione Granger, and Hermione's best friend, one Harry James Potter. Hermione's face showed a veritable gamut of emotions, flashing rapidly between surprise, worry, delight, anxiousness. She even thought she saw a flicker of disappointment for a fraction of a second.

Potter, (Harry, she reminded herself) however, had a much better poker face than Hermione did. _Strange,_ she thought. _From what Hermione has said about him, I'd have expected his emotions to be more 'on display'._

Her gaze landed again on Harry and remained there, studying him carefully as he waited for her response to his question. He was looking at her expectantly, his face showing a questioning patience, as if he was prepared to wait for who knew how long for her answer, but it was his eyes that eventually gave the game away and she finally understood something that Hermione had been saying for nearly a year now.

Harry Potter didn't _just_ have beautiful green eyes, though they were that. In truth, he had very _expressive_ eyes. If she could learn to read his eyes, then his emotions would be an open book to her.

"Daphne?" Hermione asked after several minutes had passed where Daphne failed to respond.

"Hermione and I kept the fact that we were friends a secret because our lives would have been made very difficult. Slytherins and Gryffindors are like oil and water. They are _not_ friends, it's just 'not done'. Do you have any idea what would happen if Gryffindor's Golden Boy went on a date, publicly, with a 'slimy snake'?"

He shrugged. "I _did_ say there would be a host of problems that we would have to deal with together," he pointed out. "Look, Daphne, I have enough going on this year between being stuck in this stupid tournament, wondering who put my name in that goblet and everything else, that sneaking around would just be a hassle. On top of that, Hermione and I could be together openly, and since we're in the same House, we'll be spending far more time together than either of us would be able to spend with you.

"If you and I are going to work toward being in a real relationship together, shouldn't we try to spend as much time with each other as possible? You and Hermione have had a lot of time to get to know each other. You and I have some catching up to do if we're going to get somewhere close to what we each already share with her."

Daphne hummed quietly, musing over what he'd said and couldn't honestly find any further argument against the idea other than what she'd already voiced. They would all get a lot of flak from the other students in the school if they went on a public date.

"I don't disagree with you," she said carefully. "But that doesn't change the fact that there will be a lot of noise over it if we do that. How do you think we can deal with that?"

"Would you be in any danger in your House? If that's a possibility then we'll simply deal with hiding things, I don't want to put you at any kind of risk…" Harry trailed off thoughtfully, his eyes darting toward Hermione for a moment. "In fact-"

"Don't even think about it, Potter!" Hermione snapped, glaring viciously at him as he raised both hands in front of him as if warding her back.

"You know it's a risk, Hermione," he shot back though without the anger that had been in their girlfriend's tone. "You know he's out there still. I should have thought of that before asking you to the ball, but being with me puts a target on you and you know it."

"The fact that we've been friends for three years already has put a huge target on me. The fact that I punched Malfoy in the nose last year has put a target on me. The fact that I'm muggleborn _and_ that I have the audacity to do better in my classes than almost every pureblood in this school has put a target on me. Being with you won't change that in the slightest. After waiting this long to be with you I'm not about to let you back out of us being together out of some idiotic idea of trying to protect me, so you can get that idea out of your head right this second, do you understand me?! I am not some helpless damsel that needs you to protect me from every little thing in the world."

Hermione was red faced and panting by the time her tirade ended and she'd stood from her seat, reaching across the desks between them to jab one finger sharply into his chest to emphasize her point.

Sighing, Harry raised his hands in a placating gesture and she huffed and sat back down in her seat, still glaring at him.

"Either of you want to clue me in?" Daphne asked, her tone calm even though internally she was feeling rather put out at not having all of the information.

Harry turned to her, his eyes widening in surprise for a moment before shifting back to Hermione, one brow arched questioningly.

"I told you, I didn't give her the details of our adventures," she stated in a prim, almost haughty, tone.

"Not even to tell her that Voldemort isn't dead and that he's still coming after me?" he blurted out incredulously.

Daphne felt her mouth drop open.

"And how would I have done that without explaining all the details? She would have wanted proof or more information to convince her that I wasn't delusional."

"What do you mean, You-Know-Who isn't dead?" Daphne demanded sharply. She could almost feel that she'd gone pale with shock and fear and she absolutely hated that. She was well accomplished at controlling her emotions and not giving away what she was feeling most of the time. To slip so badly now, in front of her girlfriend and Harry who she knew, on some level,had faced significant danger head on over the years, felt like a failure in some way.

She watched as the two friends exchanged a look between themselves and for the first time saw for herself what had been spoken of frequently throughout the castle over the last two years. Since the second term of their first year it had been rumored that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were going to end up in a relationship one day. The two of them simply understood and complemented each other in a way that no one else did.

Daphne's most clear and present example of love, and a loving relationship, was her parents, and she'd seen the two of them do exactly the same thing many times over the years. Harry and Hermione didn't act like best friends, though they certainly were that. No, they behaved like an old, comfortably married couple. They could, and right in front of her did, hold an entire conversation with no words spoken and as quickly as a shared glance in each other's direction.

In that moment, in the back of her mind, they ceased to be 'Harry Potter' and 'Hermione Granger' and became instead 'Harry and Hermione', two parts of a greater whole that she dearly hoped would be able to include her.

"The short version is that he didn't die the night he attacked my family and killed my parents," Harry finally said, turning back to face her again. "His body was destroyed but his spirit remained and he's been trying to restore himself to power ever since."

"He almost managed it in our first year and again in second year," Hermione added.

"How?"

Harry's lips turned up into a smirk. "Come to Hogsmeade with me and I'll tell you all about it," he said, causing her eyes to narrow suspiciously at him.

"That's pretty underhanded for a Gryffindor," she pointed out, to which he gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Maybe," he admitted. "But in my defense, the sorting hat _did_ want me to go to Slytherin."

"What?! You never told me that," Hermione blurted out.

"Wasn't really sure how to feel about it, especially second year with all that Heir of Slytherin crap," he told her.

Daphne couldn't help but ask, "if the hat wanted to place you in my House, how did you end up with the Lions?"

"You can blame that on Malfoy."

Daphne allowed herself to blink in surprise but carefully kept her emotionless mask in place.

"Could you possibly clarify that a bit?" she asked when it became clear that he didn't intend to continue with his explanation.

"I met him in Diagon Alley the day I went to pick up my school supplies before first year and he was an irritating little-" He abruptly cut off mid sentence to dart a look in Hermione's direction before continuing, "prat," he finished, smiling when Hermione huffed and glared at him.

"I don't even want to know what you were originally going to call him," she sniffed haughtily.

"Anyway, I met him for the second time on the train ride to school that year. He barged into the compartment I was sharing with Ron. He was a smug, slimy little cretin. He insulted Ron, he insulted Hermione, and I rejected his offer of 'friendship'. Basically, I didn't want to be in the same House that he was in and I begged the hat to put me anywhere _but_ Slytherin. I didn't request Gryffindor, the hat decided that on its own."

Daphne scowled furiously. "So you're telling me that we could have been members of the same House for the last three and a half years if it wasn't for the fact that Malfoy is an irritating git?"

Harry seemed to consider that for a moment before he gave a short nod. "Yeah, pretty much."

"I'm going to very much enjoy spreading that around the snake pit. A lot of us down there aren't nearly as bad as most people think, it's only those like Malfoy, Nott, Parkison, and such that really have something against you personally. Most of the girls, in particular, will probably make his life hell for losing them the opportunity to have been friends with the Boy-Who-Lived."

She noted Harry wince at the mention of the female portion of her House and bit back a laugh at his obvious discomfort, though instead of teasing him she decided that it was past time to move the conversation forward.

"Honestly, I would very much like to go on a date with you tomorrow," she admitted, feeling slightly self conscious though doing the best she could to not let that show. "I'm not entirely certain about doing it publicly, though."

"Why not take today to think about it, luv?" Hermione suggested. "You can let him know tomorrow morning if it'll be public or private."

"That works for me. I would never try to push you to do something that you really don't want to do, Daphne, I hope you believe that. If you're really against the idea of letting out that we're friends, much less exploring a…" He glanced at Hermione again, "rather unusual relationship, then I'll respect that. Though you do realize that it'll come out eventually, right? Honestly, this is Hogwarts, I'm amazed that the two of you managed to keep your relationship a secret as long as you have. Seems like nothing stays secret for long around here."

"It wasn't easy," Hermione grumbled, "believe me."

Daphne hummed quietly under her breath and glanced at the watch on her wrist.

"We've got about an hour before dinner," she said. "I've got some work I need to finish so I'll see the two of you tomorrow morning."

"If you decide you're willing for our date to be public then I'll meet you in the entrance hall at ten tomorrow morning. If you're not there by twenty after I'll assume that you're not willing to do that and meet you here instead?" Harry offered and she found herself nodding.

"That is a workable solution." She stood and moved around the desk, pulling Hermione to her feet. Placing a gentle kiss to the other girl's lips, Daphne stepped back and turned to Harry, suddenly not entirely sure what to do. They weren't familiar enough with each other for a kiss as far as she was concerned, but simply saying goodbye, or shaking his hand seemed too impersonal. After a moment's thought, she moved forward and wrapped her arms around him in a very quick hug.

It was over almost as soon as it started, but in the brief second that they were in contact she felt the way his body stiffened in surprise, and possibly even a touch of fear. It took every bit of self control that she had not to frown as she stepped back. _Another thing Hermione was right about,_ she mused. _He really doesn't like it when other people touch him. I'm not sure I like what that implies about his life._

#####

"Knut for your thoughts?"

Hermione looked up from where she'd been staring into the fireplace in the Common Room as Harry sat beside her on the sofa in front of the fire.

"I'll have you know," she said, grinning softly at him, "that my thoughts are worth considerably more than just a knut."

Harry smiled back, but his eyes still held a hint of concern. "I'll write out a Gringotts draft," he said. "Seriously though, what's on your mind?"

She sighed and leaned back in her seat, her arms coming up to cross over her chest, the fingers of one hand tapping idly against the opposite arm.

"A few things," she admitted.

Harry quirked a brow at her unusually evasive answer and drew his legs up onto the couch, turning so that he was facing her more directly.

"Are you upset i didn't ask to take you on a date first?" he asked, concern clearly evident in his voice.

"No!" she burst out just before clapping one hand over her mouth in surprise at her own volume. "No, I'm not at all upset. Maybe for a moment I was a bit disappointed, but it's important that you and Daphne get a chance to feel each other out and get to know each other better. This is a good way to do that, I'm happy you asked her out."

"Then what are you worrying about?" he asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure what Daphne is going to decide. It will be harder for all of us having to meet in secret, just like you said. But if she does agree to a…" She paused and looked around to ensure no one was close enough to hear her. Even after confirming they were relatively alone she still leaned closer to him and lowered her voice before speaking. "If she agrees to a public date with you, I'm worried about what will happen around here and how we'll deal with it."

Harry nodded silently, his face taking on a thoughtful expression for a moment. "Work it out," he finally said, to which she gave him a quizzical look in return.

"Work what out?"

"What will happen if we're public? Aside from people offering their unsolicited advice or opinions, what do you think will happen?"

Her brow furrowed into a frown as she considered that question.

"It depends on a few factors," she muttered, already losing herself in the mental exercise. "Daphne has said that most of the wizarding world doesn't much care about same sex couples for the most part. There's a few… societal expectations of certain people, but as long as those expectations are met, by and large no one cares about the rest. That's of course assuming we let it be known that Daphne and I are together.

"There's several ways we can approach the entire situation. First, you and I are publicly together and we continue to date Daphne in secret. Second, you and Daphne are together publicly, but we dont let on that I'm part of the dynamic. Third, we could let out that you're dating two different girls at the same time, but with our complete knowledge and agreement that it's okay. Fourth, we let it be clear about the full nature of our relationship, that it's not just you dating two girls but all three of us are dating each other."

She trailed off and looked up to see Harry giving her a bemused look and felt her cheeks warm as she blushed in embarrassment.

"And I just went on a rambling tangent again."

To her surprise Harry suddenly barked out a quick laugh, reaching out to give one of her hands a gentle squeeze and pulling her still crossed arms apart so he could hold her hand better.

"It's fine," he told her warmly. "I kind of like it when you ramble on like that, and I know it helps you sometimes to think out loud."

_Oh, damn you, Harry Potter,_ she thought. Before leaving the classroom earlier that day, the three of them had agreed that she and Harry would not let on about their relationship yet. They would wait for Daphne's decision and then discuss how they wanted to move forward.

When he said things like that, however, she wanted nothing more than to kiss him for how sweet and caring he could be. That desire had always been easier to control in the past, couched by the worry of rejection if she'd let herself give in to temptation and kiss him. Now that they were officially a couple, if only in private, it was much harder to resist revisiting those warm, soft lips that she'd sampled just that afternoon.

"There's a fifth option," he pointed out and she nodded.

"Right, we don't let anyone know that any of us are together at all. We could keep everything a secret, but… I don't want to do that."

He shook his head. "I don't either. Not really. At the same time I'm not kidding about either of you dating me putting an even bigger target on you and I'm not certain how to handle that. Did you notice that Daphne never really answered when I asked her if dating me would put her in danger in the snake pit?"

"I did notice that," Hermione admitted. "But you don't know her like I do. Not answering doesn't necessarily mean anything really. She's kind of evasive by nature."

Harry shrugged and fell silent and Hermione found herself carefully studying his fingers where he was still holding her hand.

"You know that it might be possible we could lose Ron's friendship tomorrow," she pointed out in a low, hesitant tone.

When he didn't respond quickly she looked up to see a confused expression etched on his face.

"Ron… I don't think he's a _bad_ person, but I'm not certain he's really all that _good_, either," she reluctantly admitted. As if on cue, Harry's brow furrowed into a deep frown.

"He's our best friend," he protested.

"No, no he's not, Harry. Please, before you get upset or fly off the handle can you just listen?"

Her grip on his hand had tightened almost without her meaning to, as if to stop him from pulling away if he was going to. Luckily, he didn't seem inclined to do so but he didn't seem pleased either.

"Ron _can_ be a good friend. He can be loyal and brave and he's been helpful in a tricky situation in the past," she told him earnestly. "But he's also narrow minded, lazy, jealous, crude, rude, and frequently inconsiderate. He has a simple, narrow view of the world and he doesn't like things that challenge his views.

"Ron has heard his whole life how all Slytherins are evil, dark wizards and witches in the making. Just being in that House is proof that someone is no good and can't be trusted as far as he's concerned. He's going to have some very strong, probably loud, opinions about either of us dating a Slytherin and… and honestly I _think_ he might have a bit of a crush on me. I think he'll be particularly upset about me not being available and that's not even taking Daphne into account. Also, if we're public about the fact that you have two girlfriends, you know he'll be jealous of you, again."

As she spoke Harry's expression took on a darker and darker countenance and she found herself gently rubbing her thumbs across the back of his hand in a, hopefully, soothing manner.

"I don't want to assume the worst of him, but in the last three years he's never really been much of a friend to _me_. He's belittled me and my dedication to my studies, but then wanted me to help him do his homework. He insults me and picks fights with me constantly. Don't forget that he didn't believe you about putting your name in the goblet. He wouldn't even listen to you about it."

Harry's shoulders slumped and he blew out a long breath.

"He really _has_ done all of that, hasn't he?" he muttered reluctantly.

Hermione said nothing, not even trusting herself to nod in case she influenced him further. She'd said her piece and it would be up to Harry to decide how he wanted to move forward. For herself, Hermione was just about fed up entirely with Ron Weasley and wouldn't be particularly heartbroken to lose the redhead's presence in her life. He was Harry's _first_ friend his age, however. It would be much harder for him to lose that.

She was well aware of how hard it could be as she considered Harry to be _her_ first friend, and even if she hadn't fallen in love with the reckless fool, she would still be shattered if she ever lost his friendship.

"I'm not sure what you want me to do or say here, Hermione," he finally admitted in a soft, hurt tone of voice. "Ron and his family have done so much for me. They let me into their home and helped take care of me when they really didn't have to. When Ron and the twins took me to the Burrow before second year I tried to pay Mister Weasley for my stay and he wouldn't hear of it. Wouldn't even let me offer a few galleons for the food I was eating or the trouble I was causing by taking up even more space in their home."

"I don't _want_ anything from you, Harry. The Weasley's as a family are wonderful people, I agree with you entirely there. Ron is a different story in my opinion, but I'm not trying to tell you what to do or what to think or how to feel. Don't do, or say anything about Ron because of me. I…" She trailed off, hesitating for a moment but decided that she'd already come so far she might as well go the rest of the way. "I'm personally not as willing to be friends with Ronald as I was before. To be perfectly honest I've only put up with him and his bad habits this long because if I wanted to be friends with you, and spend time with you, then it included having to put up with him."

She held up one hand when Harry opened his mouth, a pained expression twisting his features.

"And I don't blame you in the slightest," she said firmly. "Look… the long and short of the situation is that I don't particularly care for him as a friend. If possible I don't want to completely lose his friendship, but I've had quite enough of how badly he treats me and others around him all the time. If he's willing to be friends with Daphne and her other friends, or at the very least be civil then that's all well and good. But if he doesn't, I'm not going to waste my time, energy, and open myself up to him hurting me even more.

"You can still be his friend if you want, I'd never try to tell you who you can or cannot be friends with. Just… all I ask is that you try to keep an open mind. Be aware of his faults, don't just ignore them out of that wonderful sense of loyalty that you have. Be aware, pay attention, and make your own decision."

By the time she finished speaking, Harry was slowly nodding his head, a contemplative expression on his face. She gave him a minute to think in silence and finally he let out another long sigh and nodded again, more firmly.

"All right," he said. "I promise, I'll think about it and I'll pay attention to him in the future. Thinking about it and how he's treated you and me over the last few years… I can see some of what you're saying, and I'm kind of disgusted with myself for not saying anything to him in the past over how he treats you."

"I don't blame you at all. He's your first friend, I understand how hard it is to say anything against someone that important to you."

"It doesn't matter if it's hard," he insisted. "I should have said something. I've just been letting him be a jerk all this time and I've hardly ever said anything about it." He scowled furiously. "I've been a terrible friend to you, Hermione. I don't know how you've put up with me all this time."

"Because I could tell that you didn't really agree with him," she spoke softly. "I forgive you for everything."

"I don't deserve it."

"Too bad. I'm the one that gets to decide if I forgive someone or not and I've decided to forgive you, so you're just going to have to accept that and move on."

She glared at him until he gave her a small, sheepish smile and nodded his head. Leaning forward, she pulled him into a tight hug, making absolutely certain to press her breasts into his chest as she did so.

"It's late," she whispered into his ear, purposely letting her warm breath brush across his skin. "I'm tired, and the longer I sit here with you, the more I want to kiss you. So, I'm going to go to bed and remove myself from the temptation."

Pulling back she allowed herself a satisfied smirk at the shocked expression on his face, and the dilated look of his pupils, a sure sign of arousal.

"Good night, Harry," she told him in a bright, cheerful tone as she stood and practically bounced over to the stairs leading up to her dorm.

Behind her she heard a dazed, "g'night, Hermione."

It took every last shred of will power that she possessed to wait until she was in her bed, behind her closed curtains and a set of silence and privacy charms, _before_ she squealed and screamed her head off, absolutely thrilled with how well Harry had taken everything she'd surprised him with that day.

Now, if things only continued to go even half as well, there would be rough and difficult times ahead of them but, for the first time, she could see the future she'd been dreaming of as a real possibility.

#####

The fire in the Common Room was nearly out, just a few glowing embers to give a dim wash of red light to the room. Harry didn't know how long he'd been sitting there really. He knew Hermione had left some time ago, though he could easily admit that his mind had been in a bit of a haze as she left so he couldn't be entirely certain when that was.

_Sneaky woman,_ he thought. _She did that to me on purpose, I know she did. _

Since she'd left, Harry had had nothing to occupy himself but his thoughts and he'd taken to going over everything that had happened that day while trying to figure out just how he'd gotten so lucky.

He'd asked his best friend, the girl he'd been harboring a secret love for since second year, out to the Yule Ball. Instead of answering him he discovered that she had a girlfriend, something he never would have expected of the beautiful bookworm. He didn't think he'd ever considered the possibility of Hermione being bisexual, but now he was pretty sure he'd be dreaming of her and the gorgeous Daphne Greengrass entwined in some rather intimate ways once he finally found his bed that night.

Which lead him to the next surprise of the day. Not only did Hermione already have a girlfriend, but both of them wanted to be in a relationship with _him_. Well, Daphne was at least willing to try. Seriously, Harry Potter was not that lucky. Something terrible was bound to be looming around the corner because he was fairly certain the universe didn't want him to be happy.

_Focus, Potter_, he silently admonished himself. _You've somehow landed yourself with two girlfriends. How it happened isn't really important. The important part is that you don't do anything to fuck it up. Hermione really wants this to work, so you need to make a good impression on Daphne tomorrow. Public date, or private, you don't want to do anything that might make her regret giving you this chance._

"Harry? What're you doing down here? It's late."

Harry looked up from the nearly dead fire to see a sleep dishevelled Neville Longbottom standing near the stairs leading up to the boys dorm.

"Just thinking, Neville," he said. "What are you doing up?"

Neville shrugged. "I woke up a few minutes ago and something just felt off in the dorm. I'm guessing 'cause you weren't there."

Harry blinked in surprise while Neville walked over and knelt down by the fireplace. He grabbed a couple small logs from the basket next to the grate and tossed them in on top of the bed of embers. Moments later he moved to drop into a nearby armchair just as the logs caught and warm yellow light filled the room.

"What does me not being there matter?" he wondered.

Neville shrugged, one hand coming up to cover his mouth as he let out a jaw cracking yawn.

"Just one of those things," he muttered. "The dorm sounds different, you know? If all of us are up there the sounds in the room are different than if one or two of us are somewhere else." He shrugged. "I've gotten used to how the dorm sounds. When I woke up I realized it didn't sound right, since you're down here I'd guess it was because I couldn't hear you breathing."

"How could you even hear me over Ron's snoring?"

Neville let out a short laugh. "Yeah, he's a special kind of sleeper isn't he?" A moment later he shrugged again. "I don't know what it is. Maybe it's because I spend most of my time at home alone in my greenhouses? I've gotten used to noticing quiet and subtle sounds. A lot of plants actually do make sounds, you know, most people just don't realize it."

Harry shrugged, not really sure how to respond to that and the two boys lapsed into silence for a time.

"So what're you thinking about that's got you up so late?" Neville finally asked, curiosity evident in his tone.

Harry shrugged again. "Girl issues, I guess," he muttered, gaze fixed on the flames dancing in the fireplace, thoughts rather firmly centered on how much he wanted everything to go well tomorrow, whatever Daphne chose.

"Trying to figure out how to get a date for the Ball?" Neville guessed.

Harry let out a sharp breath. "No. No, I've kinda got that covered. It's just… well who I asked brought with her some… complications."

Neville arched one brow quizzically. "That's not vague at all," he commented, to which Harry shrugged again.

"I don't know, Neville. Honestly, I wish I could talk to someone outside the situation, but right now we've agreed not to let anyone know yet. I'm waiting on a decision from… from her. She's not sure if she wants to be public about things or not."

Neville looked confused now. "But if she's going to the Ball with you it'll be public anyway, won't it?"

Despite not wanting to, feeling like he'd already done it far too many times for such a short conversation, Harry shrugged again.

_Neville doesn't know there's two girls involved._

"It's a tricky situation, Nev," he tried to explain. "Whatever she decides, I'll work with her, best I can. The opportunity she's giving me is worth the effort."

Harry leaned back in his seat and eyed the quiet boy for a moment, a contemplative look in his eyes. A moment later he looked around, confirming that the two of them were quite alone before he looked back toward his dorm mate and leaned toward the other boy.

"Can I count on you to keep quiet about something, Neville?" he asked.

Neville took a moment to carefully study Harry, his gaze strangely serious for the normally timid seeming boy. "Harry, I promise you that if you tell me something in confidence, as long as no one is being hurt, I would never break that confidence."

Harry couldn't help but breathe out a quiet sigh of relief as some of the tension in his shoulders slowly bled away.

"I was told recently that the magical world has a lot of rules and traditions that those raised in the muggle world aren't usually aware of. That's something that the less radical traditionalists have against muggleborn, is that they don't understand how magical society works and they try to make things fit what they know."

Neville nodded. "That's true. My Gran has been saying for years that there should be a class for muggleborn and raised students to introduce them to wizarding culture and traditions. Every time she brings it up though, the purists stamp it down. They say it shouldn't be up to them to educate interlopers into our society. If the muggleborn and raised really want to integrate then they should educate themselves. And that's the moderates. The bad ones, like Malfoy and his kind… well, I'm sure you can guess what their stance is."

Harry scowled at that, knowing damn well what Malfoy and the other 'former' Death Eaters would think in regards to people like Hermione in their precious Wizarding world. He slid forward in his seat, elbows resting on his thighs with his hands clasped in front of him, bright green gaze fixed squarely on Neville.

"You're a pureblood, right, Neville?"

Neville blinked, apparently surprised by the question.

"Well… yeah, Harry. But you know I don't think like those-"

"No, you're fine Nev, I don't think you believe that crap," Harry interrupted, waving away the other boy's statement before he could even finish. "No, I mean you've grown up around this culture and these traditions and such. You know all this stuff, right?"

"Yeah. Gran made sure I had lessons on everything I needed to know. Haven't really had a lot of use for most of it, yet. Manners and etiquette and such I try to use but the atmosphere around here is more relaxed."

"That's what I need right now," Harry told him, his tone and expression earnest. "I don't think she'd mind me saying this much. Tomorrow, I'm supposed to go on a date with her. Right now, like I told you, I'm waiting for this girl to decide if she's willing for it to be in public, with a date down in Hogsmeade, or if she's not ready to let others know that we're dating. She's a pureblood witch, though, and I really don't want to make any mistakes."

"I'm not really sure I'm the person to go to for dating advice, Harry," Neville admitted, his cheeks rosy in the light of the fire. "I haven't been on a date myself, yet, I wouldn't really know what to say."

"But you know the magical world's traditions. Dating in the muggle world could be different for all I know." Harry slid a little closer in his seat, almost falling off the edge of it now. "Please, Nev. I really want things to go well with this girl. I've honestly got a lot riding on making a serious go of this and I don't want to do anything that might upset her or put her off because I didn't know any better. Is there anything you can tell me? Are there any traditions or expectations that she might have for a first date? I mean… even if she's not expecting me to know these things, the fact that I looked for some advice should help me look good, right?"

"W-well… yeah, I guess. It depends on how much her family sticks to the old traditions. Someone like Ginny Weasley, well, her family might be pureblood but they don't really hold to a lot of the old traditions, not very seriously."

"I know that she's from an old family and they do hold their traditions pretty closely," Harry explained. "At least… I think so. She didn't really come out and say but it seemed like the culture and traditions were important to her."

Neville considered that for several long moments before he let out a tired sounding sigh.

"Are you sure you want to talk to me about this? I mean isn't there someone else you could go to?"

"Who would I go to, Neville? I need to know by tomorrow morning and, not that you're my only option but… well, you're kind of my only option. Like you said, the Weasley's don't much stick to the traditions, and Ron definitely wouldn't be someone to ask even if they did. I don't really know anyone else and I trust you to do your best. I'm sure you'd never intentionally steer me wrong and if I make any mistakes, they'll be my mistakes, I'd never blame you for it."

Neville let out another sigh, slowly nodding his head.

"Okay," he muttered. "Okay, well if I'm gonna try to give you a crash course on wizarding dating protocols then you should listen really closely, okay?"

"You have my undivided attention, Professor Longbottom," Harry told him with a cheeky grin turning up the corner of his mouth.

"Watch it, Potter," Neville shot back, laughing quietly. "Okay, there _are_ some expectations when going on a date with a more traditional witch," he said. "There's three basic ways to start courting, as a lot of traditionalists refer to it. Formal, semi-formal, and informal. Now, which approach you take all depends on how serious you think you're going to get about this girl, and how closely her and her family hold to our traditions…"

#####

It was twenty minutes to ten o'clock the next morning when Harry hurried his way into the Great Hall, dressed as nicely as he could manage with the meager selection of clothes that he had to work with, and with a small box tucked under one arm. Despite the crowded room full of chattering students, eager to get started on their Hogsmeade visit, his entrance didn't go unnoticed but he did his best to ignore the curious stares he was getting as he made his way over to the Gryffindor table and slid into a seat next to Hermione.

"These were the best ones I could find," Harry said, shoving the box he'd been holding across the table toward Neville. As Neville opened the box and started looking through the contents Harry poured himself a glass of juice and gulped it down in three hurried swallows.

"Are you all right?"

Setting his glass down, Harry turned to face Hermione who was giving him a concerned look.

"I'm fine," he told her. "Really," he added when her expression shifted to one of disbelief. Glancing around quickly he leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "I really want to try and make a good impression on Daphne," he hissed quietly. "I talked to Neville last night and asked him for some advice on dating protocols that might be expected by a pureblood witch. He had a few suggestions and helped me work out some things I could do last second. I figure even if she's not expecting much from me, considering I don't know all these traditions and everything, it'd be a good idea to show her that I'm at least trying."

"You didn't tell him anything, did you?" she asked, her tone and expression swinging back to concerned, to which he shook his head.

"All Neville knows is that I might have a date with a pureblood witch, and that it's important to me to try to make a good showing of myself. She's important to you, Hermione, and I don't want to screw anything up because I didn't know any better and did something stupid through ignorance."

"Here, Harry. I think this is the best we can do right now but you did a pretty good job selecting the plants themselves."

Harry turned his attention back to Neville, squeezing Hermione's hand under the table as he saw her eyes fill with tears and her teeth begin worrying at her lower lip in response to his words to her.

Across the table, Neville was busily putting together a bouquet, using a small variety of cuttings Harry had just brought from the Greenhouses. Luckily for Harry, there were actually some non-magical plants and flowers in a few of them and he'd managed to get Professor Sprout's permission to take a few cuttings. Together, the two boys put the finishing touches on the presentation and Harry thanked his friend before carefully tucking it away within his robes.

"Good luck, Harry," Neville murmured quietly. "I'll take care of the rest of these, you'd better get going in case she decides to meet you."

"Thanks again, Nev. I really appreciate the help." Standing Harry stepped over the bench and placed one hand on Hermione's shoulder, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "I promise, I'll do my best and see where things go."

He gave her shoulder a gentle, hopefully reassuring, squeeze, then quickly made his way across the Hall and out the doors to take up a position waiting in the entrance hall near the exit.

He waited as patiently as he could, ignoring the many curious looks and the growing crowd of students milling about the entrance hall as he steadfastly resisted the urge to check his watch. Daphne would show or she wouldn't and checking the time over and over wouldn't change her decision one way or the other.

Or so he kept repeating to himself, like a mantra chanting away inside his head. While he waited, some of the students left, mostly the sixth and seventh years, but more and more of the fourth and fifth year students were loitering in the hall, obviously waiting to see what was going on with him.

_Bloody gits,_ he grumbled to himself. _Nosy idiots can't just leave well enough alone, can you? You're going to scare Daphne off! Like she's really going to want to go on a date with me with the lot of you standing around and staring like thi-_

"Harry?"

Startled, he spun around on his heel at the sound of the voice behind him to find her standing just a few feet away, looking absolutely lovely in a light, sky blue set of robes that accentuated her figure and showed enough cleavage to entice without being tawdry. She had a simple pair of sapphire earrings in her ears but wore no other jewelry that he could see.

"Daphne," he breathed out, surprised and pleased to see her standing there. "Wow… y-you look amazing," he stammered.

Her hands clasped in front of her, she lowered her eyes slightly as a light dusting of pink colored her pale cheeks. If she hadn't been standing so close he might not have noticed it and her reaction gave him a small boost in confidence as he took a step closer, bringing them within arm's distance of each other.

"Thank you, Harry," she said, her eyes roving over his own attire for a moment.

"Don't worry about trying to compliment me, I realize I'm not nearly as nicely dressed as I should be. Unfortunately, this is literally all I have that isn't my usual muggle clothes, so…"

He trailed off with a shrug as a small frown creased her brow. The frown quickly cleared away and she straightened her back, appearing to be waiting for something and for a few moments the two of them stood there before Harry suddenly jumped slightly as understanding struck him.

"Oh!" he blurted out, blushing furiously as he realized he was already making some simple mistakes.

_It's expected that the suitor, in this case you, should bring a small gift. If you're going with a semi-formal option it should be something meaningful and you should demonstrate some magic at the same time, something to show your skill as a wizard, but it shouldn't be exceptionally flashy or overdone. No need to show off your patronus or something like that._

With Neville's advice from the evening before running through his mind he reached into his robes and carefully removed the flowers that he'd put together with Neville's generous help and held them out to her, bowing slightly at the waist as he presented them to her.

"I didn't know until the last minute that a gift was expected," he explained as she took the flowers and inspected them carefully. A single daisy in full bloom lay on a branch from a fern, the flower cradled on the fern's needle like leaves and a half dozen irises surrounded the daisy itself. Drawing his wand he held it out over the flowers, moving the tip of his wand in a circular motion as he muttered an incantation under his breath.

As he spoke, a fine mist began to emit from the tip of the wand, falling slowly until it surrounded the bouquet in her hands. Several moments later he finished his spell and the mist seemed to absorb into the flowers, leaving them unchanged in appearance.

"Once it was explained to me, and that there had to be some meaning behind the gift I decided to go with this. The spell I used will keep them from ever wilting or dying, preserving them just as they are right in this moment." He lifted his wand again and cast a shrinking charm. In moments, the flowers in her hands were reduced to the size of a broach and every detail was in perfect miniature.

Reaching out, he gently took the miniaturized bouquet from her and held it up, gesturing as if to place it on her robes.

"May I?" he asked softly.

In answer she moved just slightly closer and lifted her chin, keeping her gaze steadily on his. Fingers trembling, he applied a sticking charm to the back of the new broach and then carefully pressed it to the lapel of her robes where it stuck securely. Harry let his left hand glide down the length of her arm, lifting her right hand in his as he reached it and he took a step back, bowing over her hand to place a soft kiss on her knuckles.

"I am not particularly fond of any of these flowers," she pointed out as he straightened back up, though her tone wasn't accusing.

"I don't know what your favorite flowers are," came his response. "And just selecting your favorite flowers for you wouldn't really have had much meaning behind it."

"Are you saying that the flowers you chose do?"

"I don't know if they do in the magical world," he admitted. "But I wasn't raised in this world and in the world that I come from, meanings have been attributed to different flowers. I selected flowers that had specific meanings that I expressly wanted to convey to you."

Her gaze, such a startlingly icy blue, seemed to bore into his, as if searching for some hidden meaning behind his words for some time before she slowly let herself nod, her hand still held gently in his.

"As far as I am aware, the language of flowers is the same both in the magical and muggle worlds," she finally said.

"So you understand my meaning, then?"

"I do."

"Well?"

She lifted her head again, her chin level with the ground and gave him an expectant look, one brow arched questioningly.

"Daphne Greengrass, would you please do me the honor of accompanying me on a date into Hogsmeade? More, would you consider accepting me in courtship so that we might learn if there is the possibility of something more between us?"

Her lips turning up at the corners in a small smirk that he was sure only he could see, she gave a regal nod of her head. "I will accept the offer of a date," she said. "But let's see how the date goes before we commit ourselves to anything more, shall we?"

He couldn't help but let a relieved smile spread across his face and let go of her hand, turning to extend his arm to her.

"I think I can accept that," he said.

Nodding again she took his arm, tucking her hand into the crook of his elbow and let him lead her from the castle and down the steps heading for the carriages that would take them down to the village amidst a wave of muttering from the assembled crowd of students they left in their wake.

Behind them, just before they would have been out of range, the two of them heard Hermione's voice asking, "Neville? Do you have any books on the language of flowers?"


	3. Taking Chances

**Author's notes: The Rotten Writer, here again with a new chapter. Work moves along on all mu stories I'm happy to say and several should see updates soonish. Next couple of days Ill be fairly busy so little time for writing but I'm working on it. **

**Not a lot to say for this chapter. Moving things along and hoping people like what I'm offering here. **

**Disclaimer: I own not Harry Potter. **

**Here is Chapter 03 of Cunning, Courage, and Cleverness. Enjoy!**

Cunning, Courage, and Cleverness

Neville Takes a Chance

By,

Rtnwriter

_This date is certainly off to a roaring start,_ Harry thought with a nervous glance toward Daphne from the corner of his eye where she was sitting across from him in the carriage as it carried them toward Hogsmeade. After leaving the entrance hall the two of them had exchanged a total of four words to each other, those being 'thank you' from Daphne when he'd offered her his hand to help her into the carriage and his own two word response of, 'you're welcome'.

He wasn't really sure what it was about the girl, but for some reason being in her presence was making him unaccountably nervous. His hands felt clammy and he found himself rubbing his palms against his thighs in the hope of drying them before he had to take her hand again.

_Who are you kidding?_ he thought. _You know exactly why she's making you nervous._

"I don't bite."

Harry jumped in his seat, startled out of his thoughts by the sudden sound of her voice and he turned from where he'd been staring out the window at the passing scenery to look fully at her. She had an amused smirk turning up her lips and he felt it as his face flushed.

"W-wh-what?" he stammered, cursing himself inside his head all the while.

"I said, 'I don't bite'," she repeated herself. "At least, not on the first date."

He couldn't help it. He laughed, suddenly feeling a bit more at ease.

"You seem really nervous," Daphne commented and he found himself nodding.

"I am," he admitted ruefully. "Can't honestly remember the last time I was this nervous."

One slender brow arched upwards at that admission.

"You weren't nervous before the first task?"

He had to think about that for a moment but, eventually, he shook his head.

"No. I can't really say that I was nervous. Terrified, but not nervous. Even then, once I was in the air everything else kind of fell away. It was actually almost fun."

Daphne shook her head as he shot her a lopsided grin.

"Unbelievable. Facing one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet and you thought it was fun?"

"_Almost_ fun," he said, emphasizing the first word carefully. "I'll admit, my response to life threatening situations is probably a bit… broken, but I'm not a complete idiot."

"Just a half-wit, then?" she shot back with a teasing grin and Harry broke out into surprised laughter.

"So facing a dragon didn't make you nervous, but I do," she remarked thoughtfully once he'd calmed down. "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not."

"Oh, you should definitely view it as a compliment."

"Why is that?"

He shrugged. "The dragon would only kill me or maim me," he pointed out nonchalantly. "You however. You have the ability to do something much worse. If you decided that I wasn't good enough for you, or Hermione, you could potentially get her to change her mind about me. That would cause a lot of damage that I'm honestly not certain I'd ever recover from."

Daphne no longer looked amused as she stared at him, her gaze steady, face unreadable to him and he felt those nerves that had so recently been beaten back by their friendly conversation creeping back up on him.

"Do you honestly think that if we don't have a perfect date that I'd sabotage your relationship with our girlfriend?" she asked.

He shrugged, his eyes dropping to the floor for a moment before lifting then again to look at her.

"I don't know," he said. "I don't know you well enough to guess what you might or might not do."

"Whatever happens or doesn't happen between us, I want you to know up front that I would never do something like that to Hermione," she said firmly, her gaze icy. "I love her, and I want nothing more than for her to be happy, that's part of why I'm giving this a chance, why I came up with the idea in the first place.

"You _don't_ know me, so I'll forgive you the assumption you made, but let me make it clear to you now that family is the most important thing in the world to me and I consider Hermione part of my family. I would never do anything to hurt her if I could possibly help it."

Harry was nodding rapidly, honestly a bit scared of the girl sitting across from him in that moment. She closed her eyes and seemed to take a long, deep breath before slowly letting it out again and her cold blue eyes opened to regard him much more calmly than she'd been just moments ago.

"Is that why you've put so much effort into this?" she asked. "From what Hermione says, you weren't raised in our world. I didn't expect you to know any of the usual courting protocols. I'll admit that you've surprised me so far."

He nodded again then frowned and slowly shook his head. "Well… no, not really. It's… my reasonings are all kind of mixed up in my head, I think." His frown deepened and Daphne sat quietly, watching him as he worked through his thoughts, attempting to put into words what was going through his mind.

"I think that it was a possibility, in the back of my head, that you could decide to kill this entire idea and I really don't know which way Hermione would go if that happened. She says that she has feelings for me, but the two of you have been together for almost a year now, so I'm not so sure what would happen, and I wouldn't want that to happen, either. I wouldn't want to be the reason that things between you two ended if that was the direction she went.

"Mostly though, I was thinking that you're important to her. Very important, from what I understand, and she wants a full relationship between the three of us. She doesn't want you and me to just be friends and both be dating her. Right?"

Daphne nodded.

"Well, with that in mind, I really wanted this date between us to go well. I wanted to make a good impression on you and I wanted to give this idea a real effort, not just going through the motions…" He trailed off for a moment before giving her an exasperated look. "I'm not sure if any of that makes any sense."

"It makes sense," she said. "Though I see a small problem in what you're saying. It sounds like your only motivation for wanting this date to go well, for going on this date with me at all, is for Hermione's sake."

Harry frowned again. Was that really what he was doing?

"If you're not interested in me, or don't really _want_ to try dating me, then that's not going to work."

"Isn't that what you're doing though?" he asked, feeling slightly confused. "You're trying because Hermione wants this, not because you specifically want it."

"Except, if you'll remember, I said yesterday that I've had a small crush on you for some time now," she pointed out, a light pink dusting her cheeks but her eyes remained steadily focused on him. "Actually... Hermione reminded me just a few days ago that, if we got to this point, I should make a point of mentioning something to you."

"What?"

"I'm interested in dating and getting to know Harry Potter," she said. "Not the Boy-Who-Lived. Not the Gryffindor Seeker. Not anything else that people _think_ they know about you, but you, the actual person. That being said, are _you_ actually interested in getting to know me? Or are you just willing to do this for Hermione's sake?"

Harry leaned back in his seat, shocked by what he'd heard, but doing his best to consider the point she'd brought up as carefully as he could. He'd admitted to himself the day before that he _could_ honestly see himself dating Daphne Greengrass. But did he really _want_ to? Was getting to know and hopefully getting closer to the girl sharing the carriage with him something that he, personally, wanted?

The answer came fairly readily, though it honestly surprised him, despite his earlier thoughts on the matter.

"I think… I really do think that I would like to get to know you better, Daphne," he finally said, just as the carriage came to a stop at the edge of the village. "From the short amount of time we've already spent together, I have to admit you're interesting. I think a small part of me will always be doing this because Hermione wants us to and she seems to feel that we could find something with each other that could fit into this strange dynamic we've got going on. But for myself, I believe that I can honestly say I would like to get to know more about you and I'd like to see where us getting to know each other better could lead us."

Daphne Greengrass, he could easily admit, was a beautiful girl in a cold, aristocratic kind of way. When he finished speaking and a small, genuine smile broke out on her face, he found himself slightly dumbstruck by just how beautiful such a happy expression made her look and he couldn't help but smile back at her.

"In that case, don't worry about Hermione right now. Don't worry about making a good impression on me for her sake. Just be here... with me, and let's get to know each other better."

Still smiling, Harry opened the carriage door and climbed out, turning and reaching up to take her hand as she followed him from the carriage. Once they were both standing outside and the door was closed, he turned to her and extended his arm again.

"You have my undivided attention, Miss Greengrass," he said as she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow once again. "I'll warn you now, I'm not really good with letting people in, but you'll get my best effort and I hope we can work our way forward from there."

"That's all I ask, Harry," she told him softly and then started forward, tugging him along with her as they entered the village and their first date truly began.

#####

Neville Longbottom was a godsend, Hermione decided as she sat at a table in the library, a large tome open in front of her and a roll of parchment lying on the table next to the book; quill and a bottle of ink nearby. Hermione had heard before that flowers apparently had different meanings, though she'd never really thought much of it. Honestly, it seemed silly to her. All these meanings were likely arbitrarily attributed to the plants. It wasn't as if the flowers themselves intrinsically held certain meanings or traits to them in that manner. But Harry had put together a bouquet for their girlfriend, using the meanings behind the specific flowers he'd chosen to send a particular message, and she was determined to work out exactly what it was that he'd said to her.

"Fern, daisy, and irises," she muttered, one hand turning the pages of the book while the other reached for her quill and filled it, holding it poised above her parchment.

"Daisy," she said, finding the entry and reading quickly. "Daisy's are said to represent innocence and hope."

More pages turned.

"Ferns are believed to represent sincerity and humility; also magic, and bonds of love."

Her quill scratched across her parchment as she turned a few more pages.

"Irises represent a message."

More quill scratching and then she pushed the book aside and studied what she'd written, rearranging the order of the meanings several times in her head and scratching out connections with her quill. Ten minutes later she had more than a dozen different combinations and possibilities and no real clue which was accurate, if any of them.

"Hermione!"

Hermione jumped as Ron loudly called out her name, quickly followed by a harsh shushing sound from Madam Pince. Ron cringed but quickly shook it off and made his way over to the table that she was sitting at as Hermione closed the book and set it on top of her parchment, hiding what she'd been writing from his view.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley," she hissed as loudly as she dared as he dropped heavily into the seat across from her, "if you get me kicked out of the library because you can't keep your voice down, I promise that I will not be held responsible for what I do to you. There isn't a jury in the world that would convict me."

Ron gave her a blank look.

"What's a jury?"

Groaning quietly she dropped her head into her hands and slowly counted to ten in her head before she sat up and fixed him with her best glare.

"What do you want, Ron, that has you barging in here like a Troll? Shouldn't you be down in Hogsmeade?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Didn't really feel like it. Wanted to see if Harry wanted to play some chess, but I haven't been able to find him and there's the weirdest rumors flying around the castle."

Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't care about rumors," she muttered, packing away her things as she spoke. "Most of the time the rumor is completely false or has most of the story wrong so why would I bother listening to rumors?"

"Maybe because these rumors are about our best friend and they could really hurt him?" Ron snapped. "These are even worse than those idiots that were saying that Harry cheated his way into the tournament!" She made a shushing motion as he increased volume again.

_As if you weren't the loudest idiot, insisting that Harry cheated, you… urgh!_

"Fine, Ronald. What are these oh so terrible rumors going around?" she asked as sarcastically as she could.

Ron looked around them before leaning forward in his seat and whispering, "there's some people saying that Harry went on a date this morning with a Slytherin."

"Oh no," she drawled in a deadpan tone of voice. "How terrible. What_ever _shall we do?"

"I know!" Ron burst out, completely missing her sarcasm, and Madam Pince's glare, as he threw both hands up in the air. "The good news is that I know for a fact this is all a big fat lie," he added with a smug smirk, leaning back happily in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

"How do you know that?" she wondered.

"Because the rumor has it that he asked her to go with him using old pureblood courtship protocols."

"Why is that so difficult to believe?"

"Because Harry doesn't _know_ the protocols. It never came up whenever we talked before."

Hermione blinked a couple of times, dumbfounded by that particular statement.

"So, because _you _didn't tell him something there's no other way for him to have learned about it?" she hissed.

Ron shrugged. "I'm his best mate," he said as if that was explanation enough.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Who else would he ask, but me? Not like he'd talk to Neville or something like that." Ron chuckled quietly, shaking his head back and forth as if the very idea that Harry would speak to someone other than him was completely ludicrous.

"For your information, Ronald, Harry _did_ go on a date with a Slytherin, and he _did_ actually ask Neville about the protocols. He told me before they left that he wanted to make a good impression on her so he asked Neville for some advice."

Ron's mouth dropped open and he sat there, gaping at her, for several long seconds before his mouth snapped shut again and he started sputtering incoherently.

"That's ridiculous!" he argued loudly. "There's no way that Harry would ever go out with one of those slimy snakes, much less actually be the one to ask her out in the first place!"

Somewhere in the stacks another loud shushing noise emitted and Ron cringed again, sinking down slightly in his seat.

"And why not?" she demanded. "What's wrong with going on a date with a Slytherin girl?"

"She's a Slytherin! They're all evil little monsters in the making. You know that You-Know-Who is still out there. If he actually asked her out, she must have potioned him or something. Must be trying to get him alone so she can kidnap him and deliver him right to her Master." Ron had a disgusted sneer on his face as he spoke and she found herself wondering more and more how it was that Harry had ever really become friends with the boy.

"Daphne is not evil. She's a very nice girl, if a little hard to get to know at first, and she and I have been friends since last year."

"What are you on about?" Ron scoffed. "You aren't friends with any Slytherins. There's no such thing as a good Slytherin. Just look at Malfoy and his lot."

"I am so friends with a Slytherin. Daphne has been my class partner for more than a year now for both Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. I've gotten to know her pretty well and I consider her a very good friend," she practically growled furiously at him. "And what about Malfoy and his friends? That's a few people out of an entire House, Ron. You can't judge an entire group based solely on a handful of idiots."

"It's not just them, there isn't a bad wizard out there that wasn't a Slytherin. They're all evil, and if Harry is really on a date with one of them, we need to do something."

Growling under her breath Hermione stood and grabbed her bag, slinging one strap over her shoulder as she glared down at the still seated boy.

"Two words," she snapped. "Peter Pettigrew."

With that, she spun on her heel and stalked her way out of the library, muttering darkly under her breath the entire way and leaving a dumbfounded and confused Ron Weasley behind her.

#####

Neville Longbottom didn't often have reasons to feel any personal sense of pride. He was proud of his greenhouses at home and the knowledge that he'd gained over the years on the subject of Herbology, but often that knowledge didn't help him beyond his grades in that one class at school. For once, however, his knowledge had helped someone that he'd long wanted to have a closer friendship with.

He'd been surprised the night before when Harry had actually asked _him_ for advice on an upcoming date. When it became clear that Harry needed Neville's understanding of pureblood traditions and protocols it made more sense, but still, he'd never thought he'd be in a position to offer actual help to someone that they couldn't get better from someone else.

Of course, that now left him in a slight quandary as to what to do going forward. For centuries the Longbotom and Potter families had come to each other's aid at various times and over various reasons, from war, to business, to standing before the Wizengamot in a bid to enact new laws or strike down old laws that served only a minority of their population. They had never been in any kind of formal alliance, but they'd been friendly toward each other for a long time.

When he first came to Hogwarts, and Harry didn't seem to really want to be his friend, Neville hadn't been entirely sure what to think. In the back of his mind he'd considered the possibility that Harry might have considered the friendship between their families ended when no Longbottom attempted to help the night his parents had been murdered by You-Know-Who. It was only recently that Neville realized that Harry probably had no idea that their families had been friendly. He didn't know the first thing about the wizarding world and that most certainly included any friendships or enemies that the various families had.

So, should he attempt to educate Harry himself? Or should he let Harry know that there was a lot more that he needed to learn about his family and the world that he now lived in and then let Harry look for his answers where he would? Neville was pretty sure his grandmother would want him to step up and offer to educate Harry as best he could, but he also thought that she might not think him capable of teaching someone else.

Neville had never been a very good student, except for Herbology, and he wasn't much of a wizard either. He struggled in all the wanded classes and his ability at potions was a joke.

Despite these worries that were rattling around in the back of his mind, Neville was finding his Saturday to be very relaxing, not something that he could say exceptionally often. This day, most of the castle was in Hogsmeade, and he was sure that many would be speculating over the fact that Harry had asked Daphne Greengrass on a date, so therefore the Gryffindor Common Room was nearly empty, populated only by a few first and second year students while the rest were occupying themselves somewhere else, outside of the tower.

He'd sat himself in the armchair closest to the fire, enjoying the warmth while losing himself in the herbology text that Professor Moody had given him. It was there that the force of nature known as Hermione Granger in a foul temper found him when she came storming in through the portrait hole, bag slung over one shoulder, her face set into an angry scowl while she muttered furiously under her breath.

Warily, Neville watched as she practically threw herself into the sofa near him with none of the usual grace or poise that he'd come to expect from her. She may not have the presence of some of the pureblood witches who benefited from years of lessons in dance, etiquette, and comportment, but she was still not the type to throw herself about like that. This departure from the norm caught and held his attention almost as well as if she'd demanded that he focus on her.

Digging around in her bag, she removed parchment, quill, and ink, and set them down on the low table in front of the couch before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She held it for a few seconds then slowly let it out. When she opened her eyes again they were focused directly on him and he found himself suddenly sitting up straighter in his seat.

"Neville," she said calmly. "I was wondering if you could help me solve a puzzle? I've looked at it from several different angles but I'm not sure that I have it quite right."

Neville gaped at her slightly, more than a little surprised to find himself being asked for help again, and by the brightest witch that he knew.

"If _you_ haven't been able to figure it out, I'm not sure how much help _I_ would be, but I'll give it my best."

Hermione smiled at him. "You're much smarter than you give yourself credit for, Neville," she offered kindly. "Also, in this case, this is a subject that you are uniquely suited to help with and you have a_ lot_ more experience with it than I do. Any help you could offer would be really appreciated."

With that, she turned the parchment she'd set on the table around and pushed it toward him. Curiosity piqued, Neville closed and set aside his book, then leaned forward and picked up the parchment, his eyes scanning quickly over Hermione's small, but tidy, handwriting.

"You're trying to figure out what Harry meant with the flowers he gave to Daphne this morning?" he asked.

"Yes. Finding the individual meanings attributed to each plant wasn't difficult with that book you recommended. The problem I'm having is that the fern and daisy both have multiple meanings and I'm not sure which he intended as part of the message."

Neville was nodding to himself by the time she wound down, his mind turning over the possible ways he could respond. Luckily, Harry had already told him that he could tell Hermione exactly what he meant with the plants he'd chosen, so he didn't have to worry if he was betraying his friend's confidence by explaining it to her.

"Well, the thing is he didn't intend just one of the meanings, but all of them," Neville started, grinning when Hermione blinked in surprise and her eyes darted toward the parchment that he still held in one hand, her brow creasing into a frown.

"Irises signify a message that the gifter wishes to convey. Ferns mean sincerity, humility, magic, and bonds of love. Daisies represent innocence and hope. By giving her these particular flowers he's telling her that they're a message from him to her specifically. That message is given sincerely, with humility and innocent, or pure, intentions, meaning with no ulterior motives. When he gave them to her he also requested that she accept him courting her, by using his magic in the creation of the gift by turning them into a broach that she could wear, he's telling her that he's baring himself to Magic herself, in the hope that she'll accept his offer of courtship so that the two of them can see if bonds of love could develop between them."

Hermione's face had gone slack, her mouth hanging open slightly and he really had to work to hold back a laugh at the dumbfounded look on her face.

"How… how do you get all of that from a few short words that the plants supposedly represent? That doesn't make any sense," she complained.

"It's not just about the flowers themselves," Neville tried to explain to her, setting her parchment down onto the table in order to free up his hands to gesture with as he spoke. "The language of flowers is more than _just_ the plants. The meaning behind the plants changes depending on a lot of factors such as what event or reason the flowers are being given for. The fact that Harry gave them to her as his courting gift to her has a different meaning than if he'd just given them to her as a gift to a girl that he liked. Even which hand the flowers are offered with can affect the meaning or the message being conveyed."

Frowning, Hermione reached out and snagged her parchment, pulling it back to her with one hand as she loaded her quill with the other.

"Tell me again?" she asked. Neville repeated the wording as Hermione wrote, copying down what he said, verbatim. When she finished she picked up the parchment and leaned back in her seat, reading it several times to herself. As Neville watched, her face broke out into a soft smile that slowly grew until she was practically beaming.

"It's sweet, isn't it?" she asked, looking up at him a moment later. "He telling her he's serious about wanting to know her better and hoping that something develops between them. He's not just looking to be seen with a pretty girl, but he's offering a chance for something much more."

Neville nodded again. "I actually asked him about that a couple of times while I was helping him work out the exact message and how to present it. It's… well, it's a little unusual for people our age, isn't it? To be so serious right from the first date?"

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe," she admitted. "But this _is _Harry. He doesn't exactly do anything normal, now does he?"

Neville chuckled quietly for a moment. "Yeah, I can't argue with that," he agreed, still laughing. Once he managed to get a handle on his amusement he turned a considering look in her direction.

"What?" she asked, one brow arched in a quizzical manner and he almost shook himself from his thoughts, blushing slightly at being caught staring.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I was just…. When Harry told me he had a date with a pureblood witch… honestly I was pretty surprised."

"Why is that?"

Even more embarrassed now, Neville looked down at his lap, nervously plucking at some imaginary lint on the leg of his slacks as he mumbled his way through an excuse. "I don't… it's not really my place to say," he muttered. "Just ignore me, I'm being an idiot."

"Neville, you have never been an idiot in the entire time that I've known you. Shy and a little timid at times, but never an idiot. I promise, I won't get upset."

Really, Neville honestly thought he could believe that. Of all the people that he knew, Hermione Granger was probably the last to get angry over an honest mistake, especially if the person that made it was genuinely contrite over it, as he most certainly was. With that thought in mind, he decided to go ahead and spit out what was on his mind.

"Well, it's just that you and Harry have always been so close. If there was a girl anywhere in the castle that I would have put money on him asking out, it would have been you," he said, his gaze still directed away from her. As such he didn't notice how she suddenly appeared extremely nervous, her eyes darting about for a moment as if looking for an escape before she let out a shaky sounding laugh.

"I love Harry to death," she said. "He's my best friend and he always will be."

"Yeah." Neville nodded and finally managed to lift his head so he could look at her again. "Well…" He trailed off for a moment and pushed himself up even straighter in his seat, squaring his shoulders and looking directly at the girl across from him as he plucked up every ounce of his Gryffindor courage and forged ahead. "Well, since it appears that Harry _didn't_ ask you to go to the ball with him, would you be willing to go with me?" he asked.

Gobsmacked was a barely adequate word to use to describe the look on Hermione's face when he finished speaking. Her mouth hung open again and both eyebrows had shot up toward her hairline, giving her a startled appearance that he might have found funny if he hadn't just asked her, probably, the most serious question of his short life.

"Hermione?" he pressed when she didn't respond after several seconds and she suddenly blinked, her mouth snapping shut with an audible click.

"Oh!" she squeaked, actually _squeaked._ Neville didn't think he'd ever seen her so utterly shocked before and he wasn't entirely sure how to take that. Was it a happy surprise? Or was he seconds away from being horribly rejected?

"Oh, Neville… I'm sorry, I can't. You're a great guy, and I think it would be wonderful to go with someone like you, but I actually already have a date. Somebody asked me yesterday afternoon, really only a few minutes after Professor McGonagall announced it to our class."

Heart sinking in his chest, Neville tried to take some solace in the fact that she didn't say she'd never go to the ball with someone like him. Someone else got to her first, he couldn't fault her for that, though it would have been brilliant to go to the ball with someone as kind and intelligent as Hermione Granger.

He tried to give a nonchalant shrug, but was reasonably certain that he failed miserably. "Well… that's okay. Somebody beat me to it, can't argue with that." He sighed, and gave her a small smile. "So, who was it that was smart enough to snap you up as quickly as they could?" he asked.

She winced, her expression twisting into a slight grimace. "I'm sorry, I-I can't really say," she stammered slightly. "Not yet, at least. The situation is… well, it's a little complicated."

_She wouldn't be making up that she has a date already just to avoid me, would she?_ he thought, hurt at the idea.

At the suddenly panicked look on her face, Neville realized that he hadn't hidden his feelings as well as he'd thought.

"Really," she blurted out. "It's all a bit difficult and we're trying to decide how we want to handle things. I promise, Neville. I would love to go with you if I didn't already have a date."

He nodded again, somewhat despondently, he was sure, and reached for his book.

"It's fine, Hermione," he told her. "It's none of my business."

"Neville, wait," she burst out as he made to stand. Surprised, he fell back into his seat as she took out her wand and waved it through the air several times, muttering under her breath as she did so.

"Privacy charms," she told him in response to the bewildered expression on his face. "And a silencing charm as well."

Despite the charms she'd just cast she still looked around them, checking to see that the Common Room was mostly empty, save for a group of second years that were engaged in what appeared to be a heated game of gobstones on the other side of the room. That taken care of, she turned her attention back to him and leaned forward in her seat.

She spent nearly a minute staring at him, a worried expression on her face as she chewed nervously on her lower lip.

"Can I count on you to keep quiet about something, Neville?" she asked and Neville found himself struck by the heaviest sense of déjà vu that he thought he'd ever experienced as she used exactly the same wording that Harry had used the night before.

Now feeling a little worried over how she was acting, Neville chose his words carefully before he spoke.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Harry last night when he asked me that exact same question," he said slowly. "Hermione, I promise you that if you tell me something in confidence, as long as no one is being hurt, I would never break that confidence."

A small, relieved smile turned up her lips and she seemed to sag slightly in her seat as tension ran out of her body.

"Thank you, Neville. And I swear to you, no one is being hurt at all. The person that asked me to the ball… it was Harry. Harry asked me and things got a little…"

"Complicated," Neville finished for her, frowning heavily at that revelation.

"Yeah, complicated."

"But… if Harry asked you to the ball, why is he courting Daphne Greengrass?"

She sighed and leaned back on the couch.

"That's where it gets complicated," she muttered. "There are only three people that know what I'm about to tell you, Neville-"

"I already promised I won't say anything," he cut in, slightly surprised at himself for cutting her off. "Just tell me whatever you're comfortable with."

She nodded her head. "Right. Okay. So, yesterday, right after class, Harry asked me to the ball. Before I could tell him that I would go with him I had a secret I needed to tell him about. Daphne and I have been a couple since Christmas Day of last year."

Neville felt his mouth drop open in shock but Hermione didn't notice and just kept on with her explanation.

"We've kept our relationship a secret, but I've been in love with Harry for a long time now and Daphne knew about it. She insisted I stay open to the possibility of including him if it ever came about that he showed any interest in me. Yesterday, I finally got him to admit that he had feelings for me, so I told him I would be happy to go with him to the ball and even happier to be able to say I was his girlfriend, but if he still wanted to be with me then that relationship was going to include Daphne. As much as I love Harry, I've come to love Daphne just as much and I couldn't just let her go.

"So, that's what this date they're on is really about. The two of them had never even spoken a word to each other before yesterday afternoon. This is them getting to know each other and see if they can build the kind of relationship I'm positive they could have. All three of us are going to be dating each other equally. Really, _that's _why I can't go with you, Neville. More than the fact that I already have a date, but I actually have a boyfriend, _and_ a girlfriend."

When she finished, Neville was silent for several moments before he suddenly let out a long, low, surprised whistle.

"Wow," he muttered, shaking his head slowly. "That's… I mean, that's just… well, that's really surprising, to be honest," he admitted.

"What part are you surprised by?" she asked warily.

"Well… multiple relationships like that aren't unheard of in the wizarding world. They're not very common but there are occasions where it happens. I guess I figured that you and Harry would be some of the last people I'd expect to get involved in something like that considering how you two grew up in the muggle world. Relationships like that are frowned upon there if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yeah, sort of? I mean, we couldn't legally marry outside of magical communities, but there's no legal reason we can't be dating each other even in the muggle world. Generally most people wouldn't really approve, you're right about that."

"Because of that I'm surprised that you'd be willing to get involved in a trio like this," he pointed out. "Not growing up with the understanding that it was an accepted possibility it just seems like you and Harry would have more trouble accepting the idea."

Hermione shrugged, a little self consciously.

"I probably wouldn't have if it wasn't for Daphne," she admitted. "When she first kissed me… I didn't really know what to think, and I was getting ready to turn her down as gently as I could when she informed me that this kind of relationship was possible in this world. We kept our relationship secret, but she made me promise not to give up on the possibility of Harry right away." She was slightly flushed by the time she finished, but her obvious embarrassment did nothing to diminish the smile she wore.

That more than anything she'd said convinced Neville that this wasn't just some story she was making up. She looked entirely too happy for it to be anything other than the truth. Hermione Granger was many things, an accomplished liar or actress was not one of those things.

It was interesting, Neville thought to himself. A few minutes ago he'd been sure that he was being nicely fobbed off with a fake story and that had hurt more than most of the teasing or bullying he'd put up with from some of the other students over the years. The thought that Hermione, one of the few people that he would have considered something of a friend, treating him that way had been a lot more painful than he'd expected. But now, knowing the truth and that he was the only person outside the trio directly involved in the situation to know about it…

The trust that Harry and Hermione had both shown him was almost awe-inspiring and he found himself wondering just what he'd done to deserve that kind of faith and trust.

"Thank you," he suddenly blurted out.

Hermione blinked several times, as if startled by his abrupt exclamation and gave him a confused look.

"For what?" she asked.

"For trusting me. You and Harry have both shown me a lot of trust in the last twenty hours or so, more than I think anyone has ever shown me. So, thank you for taking a chance on me. I promise, until the three of you decide you want to be public with your relationship, no one will hear a word about it from me."

"You're an easy guy to trust," she told him. "And really, I'm sorry I can't go with you. If it wasn't for Daphne and Harry, I would be happy to go to the ball with you, Neville. You're a good guy and I think we'd have had a good time."

Neville felt himself flushing and shrugged his shoulders.

"In fact, promise you'll save a dance for me?" she asked. "We may not go together, but I consider you a friend, and I'd be happy to share a dance with you."

He couldn't help but offer a shy smile and nodded. "That's a promise," he said. "Of course, now I have to figure out someone else to ask." The last was said with a frown stealing over his features as he reminded himself that he still didn't have a date."

"Maybe I can help with that?"

He looked up at her, startled by the offer, but strangely pleased with it at the same time.

"You'd do that?"

"Of course I would. You could ask Ginny, but then you'd have to put up with Ron potentially being a jerk. What about Susan Bones, or Hannah Abbot?"

Smiling again, Neville set down his book and fell into conversation, the rest of the afternoon being taken up by Hermione discussing the merits of the various girls they knew as well as offering advice on how he might approach one of them. For Neville, he might not have gotten a date with his first choice, but by the time they finished, he was confident that he would be able to find someone that he could take and have a nice time with.

In fact, he put her advice into practice that very night at dinner and went to bed that evening with a smile on his face.

#####

"You know, you never answered me yesterday."

Daphne turned from where she was examining a display of rather handsome, eagle feather quills to look at Harry where he stood beside her, a few items in his hands as he waited for her to make her choices. They'd ended up in Tomes and Scrolls after an hour of wandering the High Street, chatting amiably over relatively inconsequential things.

Mostly inconsequential, she reminded herself as, during their time talking, Harry had let slip a few comments that were starting to paint an unpleasant picture in her mind. She resolved not to say anything overt until she had more information, however, and could only hope that he'd come to trust her well enough to be more open as time went on. He hadn't been kidding though, when he'd said that he wasn't good at letting people in. For every slip he'd made she'd had to wheedle other bits of information out of him.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Yesterday. You never answered me when I asked if going on a public date with me would put you in any kind of danger with your House."

"I'm here with you, aren't I?" she asked. "Would I do that if it would put me in danger?"

He shrugged and set down the quill he'd been looking at, turning so he was facing her more directly.

"I don't know," he admitted. "You might. But I doubt you'd do so without some kind of plan to protect yourself. I don't like the idea of you, or anyone, being in danger because of me."

"I'm a big girl, Harry," she told him, rolling her eyes and turning back toward the quills. "I don't need the big bad Gryffindor to protect me, I can take care of myself."

She stopped when his hand grabbed her arm, firmly enough to stop her and pull her back toward him, but not hard enough to hurt. She was so startled by the sudden action that she let herself be pulled back until she was facing him again.

"I don't think you _need_ me to protect you," he told her firmly. "Just like Hermione could probably protect herself far better than I could. But that doesn't mean that I won't do what I can to help, should the situation call for it. I'm not arrogant enough to think I can solve any and all problems, but I won't stand by and do nothing if you're putting yourself in danger because of me."

Before her eyes, Harry Potter seemed to transform into an entirely different person. He looked the same. He sounded the same. But something about him had changed and she found herself seeing the person that Hermione talked about so much in vague terms when she refused to give details on whatever adventures that she and her friends had gotten up to over the last three years. Hermione had talked about his strength of will and character, his determination, his refusal to let an injustice happen if there was something that he could do about it.

She saw the man that flew against one of the most dangerous creatures in the world and did so with a smile on his face. It was a side of himself that he appeared to keep well hidden, or perhaps he only let it out when the situation called for it and that's why so few had seen it before. As she stood there she could almost feel the strength of his magic bubbling to the surface, pressing against her skin.

The feeling bordered on intoxicating and she realized that this glimpse that he was showing her was only going to make the crush that she had on him worse. As it was she could feel her heart racing in her chest and a flush growing in her cheeks.

"I'm sure there will be some backlash," she finally admitted in a soft tone. "Malfoy and those like him will run their mouths. But I have allies in the snake pit, Harry, and my family is more important than most of theirs. I'm fairly well protected from anyone actually trying to do something. Aside from not wanting you to think of her as being unavailable, the reason that Hermione and I kept our relationship secret for so long was mostly to avoid the stares and the way people would talk. We didn't want to deal with it, but it wasn't really out of fear of some sort of reprisal."

"You're sure?" he asked, his expression softening slightly while his eyes searched hers carefully.

"I know my House, Harry. Believe me that there's nothing any of those idiots can try that I can't handle. Your concern is appreciated, but in this case it's rather misplaced."

He didn't look away or let go of her arm for several long seconds, but eventually he sighed and let go of her as his body relaxed. In a blink he was back to being the somewhat awkward, slightly goofy, handsome, and interesting boy that she'd been enjoying the date with.

She was reasonably certain that he had no idea what he'd just done and if she brought it up he probably wouldn't believe her.

"Let's get out of here," she said, grabbing a set of the quills she'd been examining before his question. "I'm getting hungry."

_And if I don't distract you from being so… you, I think I might do something we're not really ready for,_ she admitted to herself as she started toward the front of the store.

Harry agreed easily enough and they made their way to the counter to purchase the items they'd each chosen. As they paid, she couldn't help but study him out of the corner of her eye.

_The more I learn about you,_ she thought, _the more intriguing you become. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this goes._

Outside, with her hand once again tucked comfortably into the crook of Harry's elbow the two of them started up the High Street toward the Three Broomsticks, both of them ignoring the stares and whispers that had been following them since they stepped out of the carriage earlier. Once inside the busy pub, Daphne lead the way to a booth toward the back of the building and within minutes they had two butterbeers sitting in front of them and an order placed for lunch.

"All right," Daphne said, looking at Harry where he sat across the table from her. "Time for you to pay up, Mister Potter."

Harry slowly lowered his mug and swallowed the drink he'd just taken, a quizzical expression stealing over his face as he set the mug on the table.

"Pay up? Pay what?" he wondered.

"I believe you promised me some explanations yesterday? Something about You-Know-Who and him not actually being as dead as people seem to believe?"

Harry grimaced and leaned back in his seat.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"You wouldn't be trying to get out of the explanation you promised me, would you?" she asked in a sweet tone that did nothing to hide the fact that she was serious about hearing the promised story.

He winced and let out a sigh. "No, I'm not trying to get out of it, it's just… we're having a nice time, right? I've been enjoying myself, at least, and I hope you have too."

"I have been enjoying our time together," she admitted. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's not a pleasant story. It seems a shame to bring that kind of thing up right now during our date."

"Like I said, I'm a big girl, Harry. I can handle it and I won't let a hard story ruin our date."

He stared at her for several moments then sighed as their food was brought over and set down on the table in front of them.

"Let's eat first, we'll talk about it after?" he asked. "It's a little loud in here for a heavy conversation."

Daphne nodded and picked up her fork. "That I can accept and understand, as long as you're not trying to avoid it entirely."

"You've known Hermione for over a year," he said with a snort of laughter escaping him. "I'm willing to bet she's taught you all the tricks she knows to get me to talk about things I'd really rather avoid. I don't think I _could_ avoid it long even if I wanted to."

"You're not reluctant to tell me?"

"Oh, I am reluctant, don't get me wrong. But as much as I don't _want _to talk about it, and as much as I'd rather not have such a heavy discussion during our date, you do deserve to know what's going on and what danger you might be putting yourself in by agreeing to go out with me."

Sighing again, he picked up his own utensils and the two tucked into their food. Conversation was light during the meal, but it wasn't an uncomfortable or awkward silence. Instead there seemed to be a sense of anticipation in the air between them and though Daphne could tell that Harry wasn't looking forward to the discussion that awaited them, she was curious as to what she was going to learn, and strangely happy that he was willing to set aside his reluctance to discuss the particulars for her.

_There you go, being you again_, she thought, watching carefully as he ate, apparently lost inside his own thoughts while his body mechanically went through the motions of eating. _You don't really want to discuss this, but you're doing it anyway and you're doing it _for_ me. Your reasons seem to run the gamut, but in the end this is all for my benefit, at least to your reasoning. Dammit, Hermione was right, again, I think it really would be very easy to fall in love with you, Harry Potter._

With that thought taking up residence in the back of her mind, Daphne did her best to remind herself that she needed to be cautious. She needed to keep her distance, to a degree. She wanted Hermione to be happy, more than anything, but she needed to try to protect herself at the same time. It wouldn't do to fall too fast for him until she was sure that he was falling for her as well.

The very last thing she wanted was to get too emotionally invested in him only to discover that the feelings weren't returned.

_Of course, by getting to know him better you're just going to keep running the risk of stepping right off that cliff,_ she reminded herself. _And if Hermione is to be believed, though she's a touch biased, he'll be right there to catch you whether he realizes it or not._

She ate in silence for a few more moments before groaning in her head.

_Yeah, you've hexed yourself in the foot this time, Greengrass. By the time this fool has some idea of how he might feel for you, you're likely going to be head over heels for him. Dammit, now I owe Hermione a forfeit._

As they ate, a few people called out to Harry, greeting him from across the bar as they passed, but luckily no one actually approached them and by the time they were finished the place was really starting to get crowded. Pushing his plate aside, Harry looked up at her, a questioning look in his eyes.

"Ready to go?" he asked. She nodded and let Harry stand and come around to assist her from the booth before he offered her his arm once again and lead her from the building. Outside, the village was quieter than it had been when they went in. Daphne figured it was probably a fairly even mixture of some of the students returning to the castle while a vast majority of those left in the village were in the pub behind them.

"At least it'll be quiet," Harry muttered to himself as he started making his way down the street. "Well… no more avoiding it." He turned his head, bright green eyes seeming to pierce her with a worried stare. "What would you like to know first?"


End file.
